Charlie Holt Artist

colllages @ sao bras gallery.....algarve

2011-12-12T12:32:00.000-08:00

here is a new series of collages on canvas....dimensions 20 x 20 cms.......all based on flyposted walls........music flyers........re cycled posters torn from wall of various towns and cities.and the accidental.......juxtaposition and unrelated but possibly related imagery......visual encounters of a narrative kind.........

common people

fantomas

the guru

good morning mr magritte

mirror mirror

pop corn

possible portrait

the clash

bajo fondo tango club

manchester free for arts festival 2011 @ vinyl exchange and nexus art cafe

2011-10-05T03:07:00.000-07:00

this year i am exhibiting work in two venues vinyl exchange and nexus art cafe both in the northern quarter in manchester....the work @ vinyl ex is based on record sleeves....or should i say...." improbable sleeves"....they will be displayed amongst real sleeves ........the work at nexus is based on shop fronts in the northern quarter.......with some additions....possible posters....and some quirky bits and pieces..........

for more info visit the free for arts site......http://freeforartsfestival.co.uk/

works @ vinyl exchange.........

work @ nexus art cafe

memories triggered by a photograph of my grandfather solomon and uncle sam....

2011-08-16T11:00:00.000-07:00

grandfather solomon and uncle sam........

i found this little sepia photograph of my grandfather solomon and my uncle sam…….grandad worked as a bleacher in the mills in rochdale and uncle sam was a cabinet maker….i have some of his tools…….they both lived a few doors from each other in arthur street in spotland …,rochdale…….little terraces two up two down… with the wc in the yard…….i distinctly remember a huge iron fireplace in the parlour that had a fire going in summer and winter….due to their ill health the bed was in this room as well….along with a sofa….a grand sideboard……a square table in front of the fire and in the corner a small table with a radio standing on it……a valve radio….you turned it on and then waited for it to warm up….we had sunday tea…… almost every week…….salad….a tin of salmon…..with breadd and butter and a pot of tea………sometimes we had strawberries….my dad used to put sugar on his tomatoes……the skullary was a simple affair….a gas cooker one or two cupboards….and a large shallow sink made of sandstone….with one big brass tap…..cold…….there was a door which led to a small cellar….and the coal hole……..coal was delivered by way of a grate outside the front door…..every week grandma would donkey stone her front door step just like every other hoiusewife….they were proud of their little humble houses…..my grandma was also the “local layer outerer”….whenever anyone died she would go off and wash them…..shave them and generally make them look respectable….outside the front door was a gaslamp….in fact i remember gas lights inside the house when i was very young……when they had a bath the big zinc tub came out and was filled with hot water from the range….there was always a kettle bubbling away for a cuppa…..it always seemed eerie going upstairs…..almost bare rooms….with the odd possession….i played up there quite often……grandad was a quiet man….gentle and softspoken…….he always had his waistcoat on with his watch and chain………uncle sam was married to dinah….they has a son stanley……he worked at a mens outfitters in rochdale at the top of blackwater street……long gone….the milkman delivered milk in arthur street on his horse and cart…….you left a jug with a saucer on top " to stop the birds" on the doorstep for your milk…..whenever there was some horsemuck someone would rush out to get it for there tiny garden…….

paul critchley @ gallery oldham.......9 july til 25 september

2011-07-15T15:12:00.000-07:00

paul critchley has lived and worked in mainland europe for the past 25 years or more in hollland....spain..barcelona and now italy....close to rome......his work has its roots in realism and surrealism....he is a creator of quirky worlds within worlds.......over the years paul has developed a series of works that explore a mysterious world of secrets and subterfuge....it is akin to de chirico.....landscapes and townscapes peopled or not by enigmatic events....that are often rooted in his own past........doors open into other nether worlds.....many works have movable parts doors ...through the.window is the landscape that you see the real landscape or are we being tricked by the artist......paul is a story teller a narrator....in the tradition of edgar allan poe.......he draws us into his world....what is that telephone doing in a drawer.........who is the voyeur in the cupboard....over the past 5 years or so he has been on working on a major project.....a depiction of his apartment in barcelona..... he is a master of perspective and he manipulates paint in a trompe l oeul manner.....he convinces us of his portrayal of reality....they are not merely photographic representations but an interpretation of his view of reality....they are inhabited by re representations of everyday items and given a new significance in the narrative in which they are shown....there are layers and layers in the works....plots within subplots..............

this is the apartment in bcn....the current show in oldham.is another realisation of the painting as series of rooms containing a juxtaposition of images....from the light switches....to an ironing board.......and a mirrored cupboard with drawers full of telephones........he tells a story that you can try and unravel...or interpret......he collects objects that he paints for the paintings.....they are constructed into a myriad of different shapes....that are the objects.....two cut out chairs connected by a real telephone cable with a painted telephone....

here are a selection of parts of the oldham show.........

this is a must see show..............

you can see more of pauls work on..........http://www.paulcritchley.com/

manchester city art gallery....11 rooms

2011-07-15T10:50:00.000-07:00

the manchester international festival is under way....this event caught our eye........11 rooms....we saw the poster...

on arrival in manchester we went off for a chinese meal in china town...........excited at the prospect of viewing some fascinating work..........when we arrived there were plenty of people milling around....this augured well......in the first room a man seated at a table was swapping stuff with members of the public.....he exchanged some chewing gum for a pen.......cutting edge stuff this.........another room contained a line of people playing at revolving doors......another room " which had a warning on the door" was a man laying in bed reading....then having a pretend wank .........do you remember the poster........by this time i has seen enough....i also saw man doing the limbo in another room.......time to go

"the emperors news clothes are back in fashion"

and this is what the blurb had to say.......

Over the last two Festivals, with the iconoclastic Il Tempo del Postino and the epic Marina Abramović Presents, MIF has established a reputation for commissioning some of the most exciting live art events to be experienced anywhere. 11 Rooms builds on that work, attracting the attention and energy of the international art world to Manchester for the duration of the Festival.

Curators Klaus Biesenbach (MoMA PS1 and MoMA, New York) and Hans Ulrich Obrist (Serpentine Gallery, London) bring together 11 of the most interesting artists creating durational encounters to make new and re-imagined work for MIF. Each will explore the ephemeral aspects of art, focusing on an idea or situation that both establishes and erases itself in the same instance, shaping an unmediated experience for the audience in a series of specially-created spaces at Manchester Art Gallery.

" this is pure art bollocks speak"

they have invited 11 of the most exciting......................blah....blah.....yawn......

adrain searle adds to the mayhem and gobbledegook in his video clip. ...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/video/2011/jul/13/11-rooms-manchester-international-festival-video-review?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3486

NEWS OF THE WORLD....NEWS FLASH...SUNDAY JULY 10..2011....With Regular Updates

2011-07-10T02:57:00.000-07:00

"sunk without trace"

" Who is this lurking"

" PR RULES ....OK"

" it takes a worried man to sing a worried song.....what would houdini have done?"

oldham street manchester.....a quirky film.....a promo for gabrielles wish.....

2011-05-06T14:18:00.000-07:00

the northern quarter is one of my haunts in manchester...this year i am planning to find a number of venues for the manchester free for arts festival....so far i have secured both vinyl exchange and the nexus art cafe.......others are in the pipeline....whilst thinking about possible imagery for the shows ....i typed into google...videos about oldham street and this was thrown up....one in oldham street and the other off stevenson square....where my bus from rochdale used to arrive...the number 90.....alas no longer.......

i like the surreal quality of the imagery....the lonely rider....with mysterious headgear.....juxtaposed with image and music......the man wandering...........early and late in the day.....peopleless.....adding a dreamlike state .....

collage project with antonio dias

2011-04-28T14:43:00.000-07:00

antonio dias and myself are starting a collaborative collage project.......12 canvases....6 each.......this is rocket science.........we each make a start and then exchange canvases....rocket science.........then we do something else and exchange them......no theme...no idea how they will be at the end...if we reach an end.....the exqusiite corpse is alive and well....pretty good for a corpse eh!!!!!
starting like this is a good way in....as the canvases proceed ideas will be suggested....and maybe followed....at the moment they are neither portrait or landscape in format..... neither text or pictorial.....realistic or a......t......upside down or the rightway up.......

tttt

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kkkkkkk

kkkk

" metroplex"..........more experimental collages........

2011-04-27T06:23:00.000-07:00

for the past 2 weeks i have been playing around with posters that i have collected...along with record sleeves and flyers for events in various cities........nothing fixed yet......

i am going to hear john cooper clarke and john lydon of pil at 53 degrees in preston soon.......hopefully i can collect some more info....had a quick meeting today with some 53 staff who were very friendly and helpful who are trying to get me permission ......no cameras but mobiles were popping everywhere to take more photos....fingers crossed....when i went to a recent shaun ryder gig ...

sky paintings from the early 70s

2011-04-25T12:31:00.000-07:00

in the early 70s i was working on a series of paintings that took their inspiration from the sky....infinity.....using the canvas as a window on the world.....depicting the landscape or world as a thin strip....with an overwhelming sky......i used the idea of a road or runway as a landing strip or landing area for angels or celestial beings.....the curtains either covered the landscape....indicating a closing off of reality....how can you prove that someting is there with out seeing it....it is about illusions of reality and imagination....space travel has always intrigued man....is the flying cube coming in to land or is it floating away....it has what looks like grass growing on its surface....note...appears to be......appearance can be deceptive.....

" mish mash collages"

2011-04-25T12:11:00.000-07:00

mish mash....i havent used that prase or heard it for years....its got a ring to it....not as posh as juxtaposition......or as boring as mixed images..........mish mash splosh.......
synonyms.......Origin: Middle English misse-masche,
what is the definition of collage? col·lage (k-läzh, k-) n.

1.a. An artistic composition of materials and objects pasted over a surface, often with unifying lines and color.

1b. A work, such as a literary piece, composed of both borrowed and original material.

2. The art of creating such compositions.

3. An assemblage of diverse elements: a collage of conflicting memories.

v. col·laged, col·lag·ing, col·lages v.tr.

To paste (diverse materials) over a surface, thereby creating an artistic product. v.intr.

To create such an artistic product.

[French, from coller, to glue, from colle, glue, from Vulgar Latin *colla, from Greek kolla.]

                                                                        mish mash
                                                          mish·mash (mshmsh, -mäsh)
                                       A collection or mixture of unrelated things; a hodgepodge.
                                                     Origin: Middle English misse-masche,

mish mash

a confused collection or mixture; hotchpotch

mishmash - a motley assortment of things
c- a collection containing a variety of sorts of things;

hodge·podge (hjpj) A mixture of dissimilar ingredients; a jumble.

mingle-mangle - a motley assortment of things

salmagundi

1. a collection containing a variety of sorts of things

2. cooked meats and eggs and vegetables usually arranged in rows around the plate and dressed with a salad dressing

imniumgatherum

omnium-gatherum [ˈɒmnɪəmˈgæðərəm] Often facetious a miscellaneous collection; assortment

[from Latin omnium of all, from omnis all + Latinized form of English gather]

farrago

a confused collection or mixture of things

Farrago \Far*ra"go\, n. [L. farrago, -aginis, mixed fodder for cattle, mash, medley, fr. far a sort of grain

gallimaufry

Pronunciation: (gal"u-mô'frē), [key] —n., —pl. -fries. Chiefly Literary.

1. a hodgepodge; jumble; confused medley. 2. a ragout or hash.

"da big lip",,,,maybe i was drawn to dalips by some invisible thread to john heartfield.....in retrospect......i like the similarity and difference in spelling of the word " C.......n".....the corpse has crept in....the very thought makes me shiver....this is the first of 2011...........

" he shook up jazz"....now he wants to change the world....no not batman.....herbie hancock......a couple of years ago i had the good fortune....privelage of seeing and hearing him play in loule...portugal....what a night..." he shook....." was a newscutting sitting in my studio whilst i was making this work.........it seemed like a good idea @ the time......it just happened as most things do....no rime or reason.............

a window on the world....you have been framed.....you are being beckoned by the siren........can you withstand the temptation......

standing like two sentrys.....they are the gateway to ......a long forgotten youth....time gone by...now only memories.......

an ode to pop art......the art of the comic....the ideal female........a promise........a broken dream........just out of reach....tantallisingly close...........being 17 again.......

please feel free to suggest captions for any of the collages.......

" metroplex" a new series of works.....

2011-04-25T12:08:00.000-07:00

"metroplex" a new series of images

" metroplex" is the title of a new series of works....that might take the form of digital collages combined with mixed media.....i am at an ideas stage....nothing is fixed yet........text may be hidden ......portraits might lurk.......messages......... references.......comment........manchester based?........or simply city orientated......taking popular culture....urban scenes......city life......we live a layered life....images...sounds...events........ever changing........
this project may well form part of a show at..................last year i made an installation at vinyl "exchange entitled " urban palimpcest " which comprised some 400 small images based on street art.......this year i am playing with the idea of possible record sleeves........using old 45s...and Lps....from my collection....which goes back to the 60s........mixing the covers with posters torn from walls..........layers of time and events.......here are a few exampl;es so far....
its interesting playing around with record sleeves....juxtaposing one with another....some are related others are not.........chance encounters of images throw up possibilities....how to include sound in this work.....

here are a few of ideas using record sleeves and posters....

jeff noon ......author of automated alice.....here is his manifesto........punk writer from manchester

2011-03-13T14:33:00.000-07:00

here is a collage of jeff noons manifesto.....interspersed with my comments and words and images
Film-makers use jump cuts, freeze frames, slow motion. Musicians remix, scratch, sample. Can't we writers have some fun as well?
says jeff noon
who is the apollinaire of modern english writing????

visual artist do a similar thing....taking ideas....images....from other artista past and present....responding to things seen...read....over heard.......collage is a prime example of putting an image together....made from totally secondhand images....they have been selected though....for their intellectual content...or should i say for a subject matter that fits in with an idea.....or is in sympathy.....

Yet we live daily in a web of connections, all of us becoming adept at riding the multiple layers of information. This is the fluid society. Tracing pathways through this intricate landscape needs a different kind of narrative art. It is in this spirit of adventure that I envisage the post-future novel.

this is a mural that i have completed at zefa contempory art in almancil portugal...it is based on a novel by the nobel prize winning authur ...jose saramago....the novel is " the stone raft "....it is about cause and effect.......a man stands up from his chair and feels the earth tremor....a woman scratches a mark on the ground....a man throws a stone....a lady goes to the attic and finds a blue sock......all the dogs bark in ceberes.....at the same time a crack appears in a rock in the pyrenees......this is the start of an adventure..........i have included alice in my painting....she also visited a strange world.....here she is letting the characters in the sone raft out ....to start their journey.........
look at the recent novel House of Leaves, by th
Mark Z Danielewski
e American writer . More a vast, convoluted labyrinth than a simple book, House of Leaves contains wondrous delights on every page. There are poems, photographs, quotations, areas of text printed upside down, almost blank pages, footnotes, an index, a playful use of typography. The book also tells a great story. Searching for the narrative clues scattered throughout the text becomes an intense pleasure.
i havent read the book yet....but i am intrigued by the idea.... a kind of cabinet of curiousities.......
First of all, we have to accept that English writing has been far too slow in its adoption of avant-garde techniques, in comparison with popular music, art and films. The narrative fabric of the latest cult movie is woven through with jump cuts, freeze-frames, montage, slow motion shots, tracking shots, hand-held camera techniques, and the like. House, hip-hop and garage recordings contain elements of remixing, scratching and sampling........this very true.....who is the apollinaire of english prose.......
What are the prose equivalents of the tracking shot, the hyperlink, the remix, the freeze-frame?
Anybody who has enjoyed a good DJ set in a nightclub will attest to this sense of a story being unfolded through the music.
a dj plans his set but also responds to what is happening on the dance floor.....he has to have his ear finely tuned to pick up the vibe...........the set will develop....
There are no rules, only opportunities. Above all, imagine the pleasure gained from following the various stories through the mix. The book of Cobralingus contains my first explorations in this process of metamorphiction, each piece starting with a passage sampled from another writer.
a project with 4 writers in brighton

217 Babel Street | Introduction read on......open the front door and see what happens......

217 Babel Street is a web of interconnected stories set in a seaside apartment block. There are twenty apartments in the building. Each of the four writers works independently of the others, starting off stories from different rooms. New pages are produced by creating a link from a word or a phrase on a page that already exists. Writers can interrupt and take over each other’s stories, taking them in different directions. Month by month the narrative changes, expanding into new rooms, characters and situations, creating new pathways for readers to explore.

The front door allows access to any of the apartments, where the different stories begin. All characters mentioned in a given episode are listed at the bottom of the page. Clicking on these character links takes the reader to a page describing the character, as well as a list of all the pages in which they appear.

in the last year i read joanna lumleys book.....her life story.....it starts at the front door and we are led around the house room by room each one having a story or a memory......i know its not the same but there is a relationship......maybe superficial but there........for some time i have been pondering about being outside and looking in......from dark to light......who is in there....what is happening.......can we tell something of the occupants from the interior...within the last year i have taken a series of photographs of my house at night from the outside

i used the idea in the empire of light by magritte in the part of the stone raft where all the travellers are at marias house by the coast.....pedro orce goes of byhimself with the dog....they get to the beach and notice that the rocks look like stone boats.....i have made marias house somewhere that belongs to a twilight world of impossibilities day and night @ the same time....the nearest island is paper thin....impossible.........

creating the unknown.............

creating the unknown....obviously when you start a piece of work a painting or whatever you have an idea but not necessarily a blueprint of the way the final work will look....it is a journey...when you work by yourself you only have your own twists and turns to work with....when another artist is involved the unexpecxted will be thrown up as the work progresses parts you may like or think good for whatever reason or criteria....could be obliterated by the other person....you cant be precious........i like the unexpected.......you have to leave your armchair...your comfort zone......the postal project with paul was such an event....you had no control of what appeared in the postbox.....it was exciting and challenging..

..

i have just started a new collaborative collage project with a friend antonio dias.....12 canvases....6 each.....we start work then exchange them and continue to add until one of us decides its finished...we have no theme....only chance,,,,,the exquisite corpse is alive and well.......here is an example of one of them after 2 moves....

in 2004 i was involved in another project based on the exquisite corpse with an old friend and artist paul clifford.......

This body of work is a result of a collaboration between two travelling artists who share an empathy for surrealism and travelling. The work has been prompted by journeys made between several global locations, including Portugal, France, Germany, India, Cyprus, Spain, USA and North Yorkshire.

A series of several hundred mail art paintings have been created and posted in a reciprocal visual dialogue, that has resurrected the surrealist game of the "Exquisite Corpse" within a contemporary cultural context. The project explores and extends the potential of accidental encounters, using intervention from the world postal systems, with stamps, franking and official annotation becoming integral to the poetics of the image.

mish mash............i havent used that prase or heard it for years....its got a ring to it....not as posh as juxtaposition......or as boring as mixed images..........mish mash splosh.......

synonyms.......Origin: Middle English misse-masche,

what is the definition of collage? col·lage (k-läzh, k-) n.

1.a. An artistic composition of materials and objects pasted over a surface, often with unifying lines and color.

1b. A work, such as a literary piece, composed of both borrowed and original material.

2. The art of creating such compositions.

3. An assemblage of diverse elements: a collage of conflicting memories.

v. col·laged, col·lag·ing, col·lages v.tr.

To paste (diverse materials) over a surface, thereby creating an artistic product. v.intr.

To create such an artistic product.

more " mish mash stuff" can be seen on another here on my blog.....

street art....Amoreiras, near Avenida Conselheiro Fernando de Sousa....lisbon

2011-01-23T06:37:00.000-08:00

the wall of fa me amoreiras a travelogue..........................

milita dore and myself travelled to lisbon on jan 20 by train....on one of our cultural days out.......our first destination was amoreiras and the "wall"....we walked up the hill from rato...as we neared the top we were asking each other where the wall might be........right in front of us....our pace quickened...cameras ready....here is a travelogue of the wall......it is impressive....just its physical size.....the main wall faces a shopping centre...it is obviously the prime wall....it is freshly painted....as you meander alongs its length images have partly and completely painted over......it reminds me of an archeological dig....remnants of images are still visible....at certain points the artists did not quite reach the top of the wall....pity they didnt have ladders........there are some clever witty touches ...for example painted barbed wire that mimics the real thing on top of the wall......there are also some small bushes painted which mirror real bushes on top of the wall......as we progressed around the corner were the bus stops are ...the wall takes on a very dilapidated look.......with the odd new painting acting as a comma or a full stop....i am inetrested to know if the artists co- ordinate working on the wall....either by mutual agreement or is there an organising group that make the decisions.......i have only taken of photographs of parts of the wall.....maybe reflecting not only what interests me peronally.....but what i think are good peices of work....eccentric work...amusing work....you can make your own mind up what you think of street art......i think is has a relevance to the society and world that we live in today................

what is on the other side of this wall

collage mania @ zefa contemporary art......almancil......happy birthday general.....

2010-12-15T12:08:00.000-08:00

photographed here is bota filipe busy on his series of collages on doors.....double sided collages....that make an instalation.........over the past few weeks i have been working in the zefa studio on a series of large scale collages made from posters that i have taken from walls in olhao..... lisbon....and quarteira......the challenge for me was the scale 3 metres plus.....the content of the works was controlled by the imagery on the posters.....there is a " meeting room" collage.....it is a club in tavira........there is a " pin-up collage based on foam parties @ kadoc....plus others........when i completed my work ....i tidied the studio.......a few days later i returned and to my great surprise......bota filipe and jeta were busy collaging...

and here is jeta........brush and glue at the ready......seen here thinking about the next move

there has been a great atmosphere in the studio......with paper all over the floor....a real hive of activity.....

here is my "pop art" collage... with the legendary tigerman.......references to warhol.......and kandinski......with my floor peice....all black and white ....which lead me to make the next one..." the meeting room tavira"

on my next visit 2 days later bota filipe had this peice......we talked about the silver paper that he had used....he said it needed some more work.....i wonder what will happen...........

and this is what happened

candida has been busy too....with a series based on the republic and the birth of modern art......in fact a series of collages made from old books and magazines......containing some fascinating illustrations.........

update.....today december 15......bota filipe has made another collage on a door.......here it is ...a work in progress.....its the one on the right....

it has been great to see all this new work......the studio really looks lived in.......i am intrigued to know what will go on in the next few weeks......i am off to the uk......watch this space in january 2011

travels with doctor who......in the" camera obscura bag"

2010-11-14T03:37:00.001-08:00

travels with doctor who....charts the good doctors sojourns with his mentor charlie......on their joint expeditions....or just plain visits to interesting places.......the doctor because of his size and demize is often seen or found hiding in odd surroundings.....having a closer look @ and even becoming part of the work he is looking at....he has exchanged his mode of time travel from the telephone box to "the camera obscura bag"

the doctor lands on a big collage where will the images take him...

the doctor visits the faile temple in lisbon

doctor who and the flying carpet

the doctor lands on an african sculpture......

and yes hes appeared at the science museum in lisbon.....in a still life.....look carefully at the artefacts.....

cholamondal sketch book.....artist village south of chennai....india

2010-11-05T06:14:00.000-07:00

at around this time last year hilary and i were in tamil nadu .....travelling by train...bus and taxi....visiting the most fantastic temples whilst staying at the artists village in cholamondal just south of chennai....i collected posters from walls along the dual carriageway.....this is a sample of some of the collages that i made....i also made some very big ones approximately 7metres long.....in these larger works i combined indian gods.....ganesh....shiva..

.with film stars...and other emphemera collected from the temples....for example maderai...what an amazing place....you can see more at holts in india blog

jakub nepras video artist....................AAAAAmazing!!!!!!!!!!

2010-11-04T14:31:00.000-07:00

i first saw his work at the ccb....the barrado in lisbon......i came on it quite unexpectedly...in a small darkened room........wow....awesome....magical....unbeleivable....what is it........how was this done....just a minute there are people in there ....ballroom dancing...cars moving....all these reactions at the same time....it was the "babylon plant"....here in this short video.... you see some of this fantastic world that he creates.....it is one of the best works i have ever seen without a doubt.........

.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgedAFGi2Yw

let me know what you think.......

policromia urban artists...quarteira...algarve....2010

2010-11-04T08:12:00.001-07:00

this is a new designated area for " policromia" a quarteira based urban art team......for some time they have been painting walls in the area....but always undercover....quick here come the gnr.....in recent times there has been an outbreak of what i term "visual vandalism"...this has been happening worldwide......closer to home in lisbon....in lisbon there is a dedicated area that has been sponsored by j c decaux the adveretising company...elevador de glorias.....here is an everchanging wall space which is controlled by the artists themselves.......here in quarteira there was a recent clean up campaign.....anibal moreno of loule camera recognised the quality of much of the artists work.....so we have 2 areas for the group...the underpass and a length of wall by the stadium....this is a good positive action by the local politicians....rather than obliterate the work....it now has a stage to perform on....i am really excited by the project......i hope that you will look again at grafitti in a different light next time you see some.....there are some very talented artists out there in the urban metropolis...they are enhancing what could be a concrete jungle with vibrant images.....

this space will change overtime....so watch this space...

texto con text out of con texto....late 2010

2010-10-19T09:09:00.001-07:00

surreal text is alive and well just as the equisite corpse...............
texto con text is another madcap venture into the world of random text....culled from the press....and other sources....it has its beginnings in automatic poetry.....the surrealists played many such games of chance...it is difficult not to censor.....i like the collisions of images invoked....thrown up..some will be more poetic than others...but who is to say....at the moment they are four liners...if you would like to join in then feel free to do so......charlieholtart@rocketmail.com

apollinaire....breton et al......intended to free words and images from the constraints of logic and order and known sense....substituting chance instead of a predetermined outcome....chance encounters transgress deuctive laws... they transcend logic....surrealist play is more like provokative magic.......tristan tzara advocated....to make a dada poem.....take a newspaper...a pair of scissors......choose an article....cut out the article.........then cut out each word....put them in a bag......shake gently.......take out the paper individually....stick onto another peice of paper....the poem will be like you....this is a variant....using headlines...

croston studio...clearing out junk and finding things...and people

2010-10-15T10:09:00.001-07:00

for the past few days i have been busy sorting out my studio in croston....in preparation for a refettled roof....i have unearthed some junk and also some interesting forgotten memorabilia...well thats what i call it.......30 plus years of detritis.....my life like flotsam and jetsam....floating buy....questions like why did i keep this....their must have been a reason.....the reasons are now covered in dust and cobwebs.....some long lost but some still vibrant....hear are few examples of this lost world.......

date around 1974..note the kipper tie...ive still got the pink cord wrangler jacket.....no glasses......


do you rember slide film........found this stuck to a window...the do it yourself slide viewer....what do we do with them now....they are prehistoric monsters...from not that long ago....these are images of digital prints...quirky or what...i took pictures using slide film of digital images...the mind boggles.......

oh mani padme hom...a tablet made for a show in rochdale after my trip to the himalays in 97....i made a mani wall with the help of derek boak a frfiend who was also involved with anthony gormley on the field project for tate liverpool...the kids in his school made the figures.....the prayer is sitting on an old litho stone...that i use for mixing inks on...it still ahs old images impregnated on the surface....it is a glimpse of the history of images that once covered the stone....

flyer of sam holts.....now of copyright fame...international djs....sam and gavin...one his very early gigs in manchester with ian richardson.......these 2 started in ians garage in croston....sam is the middle one doing some kind of curious dance routine......they where probably paid a fiver each or a few pints of beer....i think it was @ joshua brooks or the boardwalk....this where he is now
http://www.defected.com/events/artist-detail/Copyright/11/1

plus a new tune....buy it now.......http://soundcloud.com/defectedrecords/copyright-nobody-forthcoming-defected?utm_source=soundc

an early ticket for 2 aspiring djs sam holt and ian richardson.....they started their dj ing in ians soundproofed garage in croston..lancashire

this fell out of a book when i was sorting....its about 3 x 2 inches........it relates to some ideas i was playing with around 1965......moses and his tablets....standing on top of a hill.........there are some etchings lurking somewhere........

a fragment of a street poster from venice circa 1975 ish.....now why did i pick it up......more interesting why have i kept it all this time?...........my current work....collages from street posters......see below..

the moral here ......is dont throw it away....you never know......there is always a reason..........

charlie holt @ manchester free for arts festival 2010

2010-10-15T10:09:00.000-07:00

some time ago i heard about the festival.......thinks!!!!!........for the past 15 years i have been interested in grafitti....flyposted walls....a visual poetry...not a new idea by any means....however relevant today....information that has a short life....and usually of interest to a small minority.....whats on @ the current club....what music....etc....i like the idea of thse layers quietly mounting...a visual urban history......i have recently completed 5....3 metre canvases based on such imagery....which will be exhibited @zefa contemporary art in almancil in portugal in october........@ the same time i have met anumber of street artists in portugal.....@ the same time i have been revisiting punk music....joy division....clash and more....urban music....madchester....tony wilson....vinyl exchange is the perfect venue

the manchester intervention is @ vinyl exchange in oldham street...opening on october 1 and running for a month..........it will be a linear poem winding around the shop....the music played in the shop providing an ever changing sound collage....hidden amongst the vinyl and cds will be images....the finder keeps it....new images will be hidden each day...if they are not found then they remain hidden.....

here is the site........................www.freeforartsfestival.co.uk

blue a new work for evora....some associated thoughts

2010-10-15T10:07:00.003-07:00

blu utopia an exhibition in evora......on the theme....yep.....blue.......some time ago i made a peice of work based on the colour yellow for a show in almancil....this is a continuation of the idea using text in the form of quotes about blue......... a kind of poem........

we were invited to make a label that sat next to the work....i had a bit of fun with a photo from around 1975 ..

corinne bailey rae @ the manchester academy...........

2010-10-09T06:26:00.000-07:00

now this was a concert that i have been really looking forward too.....i booked the ticket months ago....yes just the one........the big day...im of to manchester late afternoon.....park by the whitworth gallery and had a wander around the uni end of town.....calling at a few old haunts....the cornerhouse....the sandbar.....royal northern college of music....had a show there many years ago.........then back to rusholme and food......as usual spoilt for choice....i looked in lots of windows and for some reason chose... "al safa".......

usually i am put off photos of plates of food...the placewas buzzin....so in i went...i ordered a kebab with salad a nd chilli sauce served on an enormous nan.......the meal for one could have fed 3....and it was just over a fiver.....one of the best meals ive had for ages....talk about tasty....yum yum pigs bum.......feeling good it was off to the gig at the uni....joined the q......there were a few ticket touts about....at last the doors opened...as i entered i was ushered to the left....most people went to the right...?????.....then ...into the hall...only 10 people....wow...choose a space...bang in the middle at the front....this is going to be ace......there was a great atmosphere.....people chatting...

night time....capturing an image.....the empire of light....no 7.....magritte

2010-10-06T12:16:00.000-07:00

i have a poster of a magritte painting that a dutch friend gave me over 35 years ago....found it in the studio....and here it is....

the title of the painting escapes me....its nocturnal....a house in a tree.....in this shot over a fireplace......it is an image that has been hidden from my consious view... title "time transfixed".............this idea has appeared in some form in the stone raft mural.....i have just thought of where i placed the print ....over the fireplace.....just like the rene magritte painting of ...the train....it was pure chance.....surrealism

some years ago i did some small watercolour studies at no 7 in the yard at night....problem......how do you see the colours you are using...you need light...but that distorts what you are looking at......choose paint blind...no light....choose colours as you think fit...from memory of the layout of the colours in the trays.......its a fascinating problem to solve....one of my favourite paintings is the empire of light by magritte...which i have usewd in the saramago novel mural ....the stone raft.......here are a series of photos of no 7... my house...at night...im am intrigued by being outside and looking in....what is the story.....what is going on.........it is a theatre....a theatre of dreams....nocturnal visions........at night everyone is esconced in their home....curtains close off the outside world....some people however leave their curtains open.....giving us a glimpse of their private space....this is not voyeuristic in any way......the darkness is a quiet...almost private environment...most people will walk along the street...not really looking....the light from the windows illuminates the pathway...even if you look in...its brief....fractions of a second....


no 7..the residence....nightime theatre... the story......the house stands in an area of darkness...punctuated by light eminating from the windows...the darkness envelopes the light...heightening the drama..the windows are focal points....there are glimpses of the interior....these glimpses are the identity of the occupants....a private world....we can imagine....ws can summiise....we can wonder....


what is the function of this room..........its the dining room....there are no clues...theres a fireplace...if yoiu look carefully therea clothes horse hanging from the ceilling...you cant help thinking...who lives there...what is going on......will someone come into the room...........it is a drama ...sometimes devoid of people....but people live in the house....the light is on....someone appears and disappears in an instant....perhaps with a cup of coffee....or in a dressing gown....click.....lights out....bed.......end of act 1....

do the contents of the room...the house....give a clue as to the occupants.........as we have sbeen sitting in this room we have watched people over the past 30 years look in at us the goldfish...this room has brightr green walls...a bright blue ceiling...with 3 chinese paper kites on the wall...........we know from comments that peolple are intrigued by the objects on view...we didnt put them there for others to see...nevertheless they have been seen....people build an image stroke picture of the occupants...we are all guilty of this fantasy...we make presumptions.....

zefa

2010-09-25T15:09:00.000-07:00

Zefa Centro Arte Contemporanea

Exposição

Zefa-Centro de Arte Contemporânea Saturday, 25 September 2010 17:00

foam party....page 3.......calendar girls....take your pick.......
and at 05.30 minutes in RTP1 broadcast...

http://ww1.rtp.pt/multimedia/progVideo.php?tvprog=19455&idpod=45198&partes=1

lisbon...the temple....the twins and grafitti boys

2010-09-13T12:39:00.001-07:00

hil and i spent a few days in lisbon....to see the work of blu and osgemeos,, the twins at ccb belem......to wander the streets and soak up the atmosphere and generally keep our eyes open ...for more street art......and quirky things.......we arrived in lisbon around lunchtime and headed for downtown sul where we always stay its right next to the theatre in rossio......then straight into the brazilian buffet around the corner for picanha and black beans.....first stop the faille temple.......absolutely gobsmacked....what appears to be an ancient temple standing in the avenida.....it is amazing...a mixture of ancient greek...roman....pop art....elgin marbles and more have a look @ the photos and our little video..

.then we went upto marquis de pombal to find the blu paintings.....here are a couple of stills.

BLU and OSGEMEOS in LISBOA

then we went off to the ccb in belem ...i houses the barado collection...an enormous gallery that has some fantastic shows.....its like an iceberg.....its bigger underground.....it is big ......at ccb os gemeos had a huge installation of doors and small objects peopled by their characters....plus a fantastic mirrored sound room which was magical....

here is part of the osgemeos installation @ccb

what a surprise two caravans one at the cccb and the other at the guggenheim......something that im interested in pursuing myself as a part of the saramago mural ideas

and then some wallpaintings come collages by vhils aka alexander farto that are in a solicitors office in lisbon

next stop glorias elevator where there is a grafitti wall sponcored by jc decaux......by chance we came upon a small shop that sold specialist spray paints for grafitti artists...we met the owner a guy that in fact runs the wall and chooses the artists.......after a good conversation we said goodbye.....he stopped us ...went back into the shop and gave me a boxed set of cards for the past few years paintings on the wall.....what an amazing present to be given....and here they are sitting outside the shop....there is a bench....if its shut you can wait in comfort..

about manchester....urban palimpcests....the untitled gallery.......

2010-09-06T04:35:00.000-07:00

joy division...........

august in the uk.....im collecting images...postcards etc re manchester...which relate to my intervention @vinyl exchange in oldham street as part of the manchester free arts festival which opens on october the first...the title of which is """"urban palimpcest""""".......i am interested in layers.....fly posted walls...street art......sounds of the city.....i have been visiting the city for some 50 years.......the northern quarter was a textile area...with a lyons coffee shop in stevenson square....you could drive down market street.......the free trade hall. ....the clubs in the 60s...the twisted wheel....then the hacienda of the 80s.....hume.......music has always been important...urban regeneration....the list goes on....memories...even urbis has gone........have a look @ this new gallery....and exhibition.......

Roxana Allison..........Becoming a Memory

http://www.untitledgallerymanchester.com/exhibitions/becomingamemory.htm

here are few recent photos of remembered places........

this appeals to my sense of humour....since this was taken all the graffiti in the northern has been hoovered away........the paint may have obliterated it but this walls history is in my head..........long live street poetry....

all obliterated....look carefully........the official obliterator missed a bit........

urbis....gone ....removed by an even bigger brush.......opened to great razz a ma tazz....up in the elevator...into a room filled with images and sounds of the city....then the doors opened and you entered the gallery......a space dedicated to the urban environment....what went wrong.....

people are the city...characters like colin jellicoe...seen here with myself...a double portrait....in his long survived gallery in portland street...colin has watched trends come and go.....he still goes on....

sinclairs was moved in the 60s on wheels to its present site...there was a philatelists in the same building.....true.......moved lock stock and barrels on wheels.......

have look at this video...,.time lapse.. manchester........

manchester videos

2010-08-19T03:36:00.001-07:00

since i have been looking at street art ....grafitti ....etc i have become interested in the cities themselves....does the environment that we live effect our behaviour?...does it influence how we react to our surroundings....why do grafitti artists do what they do? you never see grafitti in middle class suburbia....always in inner cities...decaying places...both socially and economically....in lisbon chiado area is covered in street vandalism....why......i listened to a radio 4 programme about hulme...the architects had great aspirations....but look what happened...it turned in to a guetto...a no go area for even the police....watch the video...high rise

http://vimeo.com/12986261

A film about people, preconceptions and 1960’s concrete.

Hi High Rise is the first short film by photographic
partnership TAPE and is shot entirely on a digital SLR.

This documentary aims to challenge the preconceptions associated with tower block living in the UK and celebrates the successful community of Hornchurch Court, a high rise on the edge of Manchester city centre.

i love manchester by simon owen...one persons view of the landmarks,,,,,before the bombing in manchester the arndale didnt exist...the city is always changing for the better??????

http://vimeo.com/9755039 by simon owen

From rock to rubble: how Manchester lost its music

this is a thought provoking peice

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/video/2010/mar/31/manchester-music-owen-hatherley by owen hatherley

One of Manchester’s most distinctive buildings - the 107 metre tall City Tower in Piccadilly Gardens - became a huge, open canvas from Friday 12 – Sunday 14 December (4pm – 11pm)2008, when passers-by where invited to leave giant handprints on the side of its imposing tower.....i like the idea of interventions however big or small that take place in the city,,,,,,,,,,

http://vimeo.com/12932359..handprint...your hand on a building

fishing @ stoat in croston 2010..sam holt....sebastian gregory...charlie holt and byron gregory

2010-08-10T04:18:00.001-07:00

august nine 2010....stoat fishing trip....gear all sorted out....the weather doesnt look good but hey we have umbrellas......pack the car and off....excitement in the air ....anticipation of what we might catch or not catch......3 minutes and we are there...pay fred and choose a swim......we tackle up ....i cant believe it sams in with a 4 lb mirror mirror carp in less than 3 minutes...whilst i still getting sorted out.......the rain ...very fine you know the kind that you wet in.....its fine under the brollies...the sound of the raindrops on the pond is gentle......then we start getting plenty of bites....mostly small roach....the conversation goes something like this....you just missed a bite....can i have some meat...are you on sweetcorn....what depth are you fishing....all intellectual stuff....sam lands another...mirror again around 4 lbs...jammy or what.....not quite like the 40 pounder in toulouse recently....later in the day he managed to land a mirror the size of the palm of his hand...elation...the smallest one that he has ever caught...meanwhile im hauling in lots of roach and decent skimmer....byron and basti arrive around about lunchtime....basti is using a small pole ...he puts on the bait...what seems like minutes later...hes got a bite and a big fish.......a reel expert ..........the day goes buy...much the same conservation...about bites...bait...and other mind boggling observations.......watch the gripping epic adventure for a true reflection of the day...a film about the excitement to be had sitting by a pond......sometimes in the rain.....

loughboro college of art..circa 1966 to 69 @mr gibbs house

2010-08-04T12:39:00.000-07:00

a long overdue visit to my old not so old friend and mentor from art college days in printmaking in william street with john hawley..chub harrison and mike north...like a pair or 3 including patsy...mrs giggs...last of the summer winers.......careering around memory lane for several hours only stopping to take breath......i arrived in loughboro or as i and my wife refer to it as loobrush......through kegworth...met dave manley ex dean of derby the other day @ oldham art gallery....on past the dewdrop pub and into loobrush.....up paget street onto radmoor rd and bingo york street...rat a tat tat....mr gibbs in the flesh....they have the same green carpet as we have in croston...a tardis of a house...the years peeled away..was it so long ago...time had stood still....or had it always been standing still....there was dave just looking like dave........cups of tea...patsy had to go out and left us too it...upto the studio to see the newly made book.....a limited edition of 12..... 2 volumes in a box everything done by yes ....mr gibbs...beautifully printed and put together.......texts and poems from spanish all translated by yes.......then a look in the plans chest....then a blue box complete with piano hinge...full of stuff from the 60s...a treasure trove of images...moonwalking juxtaposed with indian imagery......each one a treat......patsy then showed me her paintings...mostly fantastic renditions of past masters including an amazing tanka painting....the house is full of buddhist stuff.....and things....niks and a few naks.....more t then lunch ...dave home made bread and an italianate soup which had been buubling in nthe background.....the conversation flowed like printers ink.......one memory led to another.....then off out for wander around town...through the park past the merillion ...took afew shots of the town ...dave outside boots where i first arranged to meet hilary all those years ago...been married 39 years....the chinese...lunch for 3 and 6.....the saracens head where we played darts and back to york street for an early dinner talking all the while...at the end of the meal dave said he was off upstairs and i said we didnt want to know he returned with a..........he put it down in front of me.......a book.........i was lost for words........thankyou...and a print from patsy for hilary....what an amazing day.......a mixture of nostalgia and looking forward to new projects....we wont wait another 20 odd years for the next meeting our meeting was inevitable....nearly the title of one of the books.......

bat the rat...aka mr vince atherton of croston...lancashire

2010-07-15T13:17:00.000-07:00

just what is bat the rat?????? it is money making machine cunningly contrived by a certain vince atherton of croston...lancashire......it is literally wheeled out @ and on various calendar dates in the life of the said village....it is a curious contrivance involving 2 wheels....some plastic drainpipe....a conglomeration of sundry bits of wood....exquisite lettering.......not like the narrow boat tradition....its more home spun......it is always acompanied by the forementioned mr atherton...attired in a bowler hat and patriotic waistcoat...and trousers...and shoes.....harmless you might think....this is an invention that requires great skill in mastering its content....especially when you have an operator that is not quite trustworthy.........he also plays the bagpipes....at the drop a hat.....i digress......mr atherton poses as a friendly local resident...he has in fact been a part of village life since he was released from............on this recent outing which was bastille day celebrations on the village green......yes its about france.......many years ago at the local secondary school a french....english exchange was set up for school children which eventually morphed into an adult exchange as well..........so its obvious mr atherton gets his rats out......at this point perhaps i should explain the workings of this phenomena.....mr atherton holds a fabric rat...that is made from fabric with a little tail...a fabric tail...he warns the contestant who has been lured into the web...that he ...mr atherton with release the rat into the plastic drainpipe....the unsuspecting participant is armed with a short stick with which to trap or more correctly.....bat the rat..........there is an old english phrase about a rat up a drainpipe...this has got absolutely nothing to do with this scam.....the contestant waits in eager anticipation.....nerves jangle........powers of concentration focused....little do they know that the operator is sneaky....he often drops the rat but catches its tail briefly thus slowing the delivery of the prey...the contestant strikes...to early ...the rat then pops out.......mr athgerton smiles innocently....who me?????? another of his tactics is tp throw the rat down the guttering....the participant is caught unawares....again there is a benign smile....or more like ...you cant beat me smug look........he is extremely plausible this mr atherton.....people form queues around the village green in an attempt to bat the rat.....there is only one winner the rat aka mr atherton...........and here he is....

rochdale....some memories...jumbled thoughts in no particular order

2010-07-13T05:19:00.000-07:00

the other day i was in rochdale on business and found myself close to drake street ....which used to be the smart shopping street of the town...alas no more.....it looks forlorn...abandonned.....shuttered shops...it is a visual mess....the only highlight for me was....is it possible....yes....the san remo coffee bar where we used to while away chatting to girls.....it was close to the art school where i was a student on a foundation course.....64 to 66.....hours with one cup of coffee...chatting to the girls....the art school was just opposite...i was a student doing foundation art with people like tim wood...fiona ward...ann baldwin....david clough....robin chadwick.....ian bamford....vince bottomley et al..........since burnt down...this is another story.......back to the san remo.....i couldnt resist it i went in and had a coffee...it looked vaguely the same....here are a few shots.....

the wimpy bar used to be close by......another hang out....very brightly lit though ....we preferred dim and atmospheric........further up drake street was a cafe called.......?.......just before dennis hopes mens wear shop....its so long ago...we also used to meet the girls every day after school at the bottom of the walk....a small pedestrian street...eyeing each other up...and waiting for the bury girls grammar school bus to arrive.....got it....the medichi...i think i used to spell it like this....complete with jukebox...and dark.........being in rochdale has jogged my mmory of other times and places associated with around the same time.....silver street methodist chapel...a place where we went to dances on a saturday night id be about 15...16....the latest dance was the twist by chubby checker....the night usually went like this...all the lads on one side of the room and ...yes the girls on the other....lots of eyeing up and go on ask to dance stuff....at the end of the night probably 9...9 30 we would probably go to the chippy on spotland road........he had channel swimmers and gold bars........the last dance was always a slow one ( music played on a dansette) that was the last chance to get the girl youde fancied all night.....

..we walked home from here down by the river spod down what we always called 200 steps...i wonder if they are still there...close by silver street was clarkes lane where i went to primary school..one famous class mate being bet lynch of corrie fame....susan shotton was a swat...gillian firth was very pretty...but then i wasnt interested in girls.....barry cottam gave me my nickname ...charlie.......we where playing football on lenny barn with jeremy march..ian taylor...and one or 2 others...a coach went past owned by a company called charlie holts coaches....barry looked at the coach and then looked at me....bingo ...my new name...and it stuck...and stuck...and.....i was probably around 13 ish.........
its interesting how places trigger thoughts....as i walk around rochdale i think that someone in the street could be someone that i know....its my version of fantasy friends reunited...........i kind of like the idea of reaquainting myself to a long ago past..........names come into your head....old ladies that i used to do errands for on a saturday morning when i was about 10....mrs corney was a near neighbour....miss burrows had an old fashioned greengrocers...spuds were in sacks...when you opened the door ...a strange bell dinged...then she came into the shop...a big woman wrapped in a huge pinny and wearing clogs.....i bought penny ice lollies there....there were posters for skegness....scarborough etc on the walls....it was a .travel agents as well..............haircuts were at teds across the road an ex army barber....short back and sides...and i mean short back and sides........he left almost no hair at all and then asked if you wanted any tooti........brylcream......if you said yes...he deposited a huge dollop on your head....then is was rubbed it in...combed it......you had the appearance of someone with greasy plastered hair...when you went outside it felt cold...reason........no hair...fortunately my mother did not like teds idea of a haircut.....mine was left relatively long...........much like it is now......

the first house that i remember was 97 rooley moor road...a terraced house.......after the front door was hallway...on the right the sitting room...this was only used on special ocasions.....birthdays.....christmas...when you werer ill...i remember having my tonsils out and spending some time recouping in this very room...after i came out of rochdale infirmary...a present had been hidden...it was a toy pop gun rifle ..complete with a cork on a short peice of string..........the furniture comprised a three piece suite.......a dumb waiter full of nik naks........the room that we lived in had an old iron range that went almost to the ceiling...it had an oven...a place to heat the kettle..and a water boiler...this was for when we had a bath.....a zinc bath...that was kept in the cellar.......the kitchen then called a skullery was tiny....no hot tap....a door leading out the backyard.....where the outside loo was....last thing at night you made sure you went....during the night there was a chamber pot kept under the bed,,,,,,,,

frank sidebottom......one of my all time favourite...passes away june 21-2010

2010-06-22T14:02:00.000-07:00

i cant believe it frank no more........i first heard his comic tunes in the 80s.....on vinyl......thank you!!!!.... and tape...seems like the stone age......the character with the papier mache head...as i am writing this i can hear his voice in my head....i am even writing this in his voice....thank you !!!!.......rembering tunes like.....anarchy in timperley......

and here it is.........http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJEk7UQIII4 take it away..............

three shists on my line.....another wacky hit.........http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxcS3OUrgUk

more to follow.................

frank @ the seaside bottom one of my firm favourites....it really is....

saramago and the empire of light...june- 18- 2010 jose saramago passes away......some thoughts....

2010-06-18T11:23:00.000-07:00

at last i am reaching the end of the wall....the three travellers have met in the woods and joana carda scratched a mark on the ground they try to obliterate it but it will not go away.......then they are on the way to where? they are still following the dog with the blue wool......they arrive at a house ...maria opens the door...she is the lady with the blue sock....i have chosen to base this part of the mural on magrittes painting " the empire of light" ........day and night exist @ the same time....in the same place.......we or they are entering another world....there is a blue cloud floating over the house......what does it signify.....whilst the friends are talking pedro orce who is alone goes off with "dog".......they wander over the hills towards the sea....as they approach the beach there is a still quality......calm......not quite real.......do his eyes deceive him........can this be.......scattered along the beach are boats....petrified boats.....stone boats.........there is an eerie feeling in the evening light......which is fading fast.......adding to the mystery............rocks ....large rocks...like we find in albufeira........a calm sea..........i am using the boats as a reference to a painting by bocklin....the isle of the dead.......the boats are almost transparent....you can see right through them....what is their cargo........souls.........i have returned to the image of the floating landmass heading towards the azores......or the isle of the dead........the boat in the "unknown island" becomes the island...the raft is a moving island......the story has gone full circle....the man searching for the island......the peninsular departing ftom europe.....by cause and effect...the stick..the stone...a tremble..the birds...the blue sock......"dog"....blue cloud........the dogs that bark ........impossible....perhaps no more impossible then magrittes painting of the empire of light......day and night together at the same time.......the moon hanging in the early morning sky at the end.....all is possible.....these where my thoughts during the day of june 18......after the days work i went to an exhibition in sao bras....not an unusual event at all...at the gallery i picked up the novel about an elephant .....by you know who......unfortunately for me in portuguese......on returning home that night...a message was waiting for me on facebook from dave gibbs an old friend...telling me about saramago....it was strange ....i had spent the past 2 days thinking abiout all these connections............possible connections

"Because each of you has his or her own death, you carry it with you in a secret place from the moment you're born, it belongs to you and you belong to it." José Saramago

"Some people spend their entire lives reading but never get beyond reading the words on the page, they don't understand that the words are merely stepping stones placed across a fast-flowing river, and the reason they're there is so that we can reach the farther shore, it's the other side that matters.” José Saramago

from dave gibbs

INEVITABILITY
Lucky is the tree that’s barely sentient,
and even more the unfeeling flinty rock,... See more
because there is no pain like that of living,
nor greater grief than that of sentient life.

To be, know nothing, and not know where we’re going,
with the fear of past and future terrors…
And the shocking certainty of being dead tomorrow,
and to suffer through this life and through its shadows

and all the things we know not and cannot imagine,
and the flesh groping with its nascent inflorescences,
and the tomb that waits with floral tributes,
and not knowing where we’re going,
or where we’ve come from!…

Rubén Darío
(my translation)

Saramago will be cremated at Lisbon's Alto de Sao Joao cemetery at noon on Sunday June 20, after which his ashes will be divided.
Half will be taken to his native village of Azinhaga and the rest will be placed at the foot of an olive tree in the garden of his Lanzarote home, where he spent the last 17 years of his life.

The olive tree.........

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3ldSLYnECc bocklin...the isle of the dead.........

Böcklin himself provided no public explanation as to the meaning of the painting, though he did describe it as “a dream picture: it must produce such a stillness that one would be awed by a knock on the door.......

festival med 2010... uma instalacao de rua...an intervention in the street

2010-06-06T08:16:00.000-07:00

joao espada and charlie hard @work?

welcome to the 4th festival med exhibition an intervention in the street, for the past 3 years artists have worked on canvas.....time for a change....you may have seen painted cows...bears...dolfins....sheep....all made of fibreglass....this year here in loule we have doors....yes doors....made from wood??....each artist has been given one half of a double door and the name of a country....which they have been asked to interpret in any way...each artist is unaware of who or what is being done to the other half of the door.....even i have forgotten who is doing what....the doors and names where given at random...the idea being to mix countries and culture in the streets of the festival...music is a universal language as is art..........i think that you can see from the results some very intriguing meetings of ideas have been thrown up.....from bettys snow footprint in finland and the almost snowlike landscape in carloses australian landscape.......brigitte actually went to egypt on holiday... i had no idea at the time.......dre had russia...Fantasy Folklore Russian Vasilisa.....tells the story of a girl and the witch of the forest who lives in a house supported on chicken legs.....an imaginary world of fantastic and grotesque characters, dolls from wood with life, and skull knights........ with gustavo in cuba with the population having no freedom bound in ropes....paulas italian neopoltan stripes collides with vitangas usa.....greece by aderita stands next to pessoa by joao espada....claudia looks at the spanish poet cervantes whilst melita languishes in cape verde.........alex tells a story about africa on both sides of the door whilst marianna has created chaos in mexico....teresa has taken the traditional jewish headgear ....joao has just returned from brazil in real life...raul enjoyed the textures of the door so much he retrained them and added some leaves....under peters door are some tango dancers now oblterated with the argentine national anthemn...in chalk...you can rub it off but the text remains in your memory....when the show is over he intends to write a poem every week on the door whilst it hangs in his garden....joel is in la belle france whilst jess is grappling with turkish wrestlers.....for my part im in maroc a spiritual home.....

curated by joao espada and charlie holt

to see the catalogue clik below...then clik on the page top left to open the catalogue

http://www.festivalmed.com.pt/images/site/BOOK_expo.pdf

if you have photos or videos from this years festival which include the doors please send to charlieholtart@rocketmail.com

if you would like to know about the artists then please make contact..

the legendary tiger man.....paulo furtado

2010-06-03T12:04:00.000-07:00

LTM...aka paulo furtado is a portuguese one man band.......he plays drums....guitar and harmonica.......soon to be playing at med fest in loule.....he has collaborated with a number of female singers such as rita redshoes......cibelle and asia argentino...was a member of wraygunn...their music is mix of rocksoul gospel and blues tigerman says it sounds like elvis p playing in a spaceshuttle......his live performances are a complex collage...montage of electronic....computer generated loops and beats...image projections... he plays live instruments creating the illusion of something more than a one man band,,,it is an extravaganza of creativity....

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=101435141

check this vid out...... asia argentino

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=59593506

the stone raft...the travellers are nearing Lisboa

2010-05-31T02:41:00.000-07:00

a recap not a nightcap....the intrepid travellers are in the 2cv following the dog....my dog is the old zefa dog who has very bad hind legs....arthritis....as you may kow i am not a dog person......my studio is his kennel...we share it...wherever i go the dog follows....dragging his legs.....alas he is no more..."zefadog"is his name and he is in the painting....back to the raft......the dog has some blue wool dangling from its mouth......the 2 cv goes very slowly following the dog...they never questioned why?....blind faith or fate or innate trust or some mystical magnetism drawing them to a distant destination........the blue wool is echoed in the painting with a winding blue road based on hockneys painting of mulholland drive....there are a few jig saw peices........how we put the story together bit by bit.....some peices fit some peices will fit eventually.....some are cul de sacs........how to portray lisboa? without being to obvious...............when the travellers arrive in lisboa they stay @ a hotel in rua alecrim....uknown tthe birds form into an enormous cloudlike shape frightening all of lisboa........

manchester street art 2010

2010-05-28T13:26:00.000-07:00

now you see it now you dont......the northern quarter has been hoovered of grafitti....has the city council had a purge or is there a mad anti grafitti artist out there?

the artist in market street, a very talented guy...if you see him working give him a second thought...better stilll make a donation however small!

seen in rusholme a sad building that was once proud... a centre for conversation and meeting people

the click of the balls is now faded!

cordoba..chillida and a patio garden

2010-05-14T11:06:00.000-07:00

hil and i went on the garden club trip to cordoba........the wheels on the bus went round and round and round about cordoba...our driver appeared clueless in gaza......@ last our hostal...bags dropped and out....lunch of boquerones.......spinach and chickpeas and some albondegas...ace! at los palcos in a courtyard....it rained drumming an incessant beat on the plastic roof...we wandered like the fish "wanda"...we bumped into a chillida show.....monumental sculpture......paper works and a great video on him and his work....i had seen a big show of his in bcn many years ago...back into the streets and saw a wacki wire wall piece....poetry and whimsey like a delicate dancing miro.......we were then in the red light district.....why no gardens yet? they do not open til 7pm....to mini conifers in pots signify a patio....number uno ....in we go the walls are splattered with pots full of flowers......a riot of colour......the only roblem for me is that they are all very much the same.....finding some small scale graffiti in a very tidy hoovered town....hil was the map reader....great maps .....i dont think......in one of the main streets we came across a house covered in calligraphy and we met the pen man...what a character....more gradens and balconies....then we met rodrigues and his girlfriend in their patio....it was ace totally unglued.....plants in shoes....pebbles balanced in plantpots....paint spattered plates and great music....what a refreshing place after all the anal patios....lunch in the internet cafe migos with chorizo....hil had paella...waited 20 mins but worth it....the alcazar...formal gardens and wonderful topiary...plus koi...we missed out on the mesquita this time round....a last lunch of boquerones....pinchos of pork and deep fried battered aubergine served with a sugar cane dip........over the roman bridge and away...

the saramago wall and chico

2010-04-23T13:31:00.000-07:00

i could feel some eyes on my back.......you know the feeling.....it was a surprise visit from chico...the man from salir......chico is the general factotum....a man of many parts...always with a smile......he was working with antonio....i think looking for old farm implements @ the generals fathers house....a new project that the general is working on....progress is going well....lots of white bits painted.....there are stilll about 30 metres to go........the wall arrives in lisboa next....with a hotel.......and the birds....id forgotten them.......and the dog with the blue wool..........

zefa salir and almancil in april.......plus volcanic dust!!!!!!!!

2010-04-21T05:34:00.000-07:00

volcanic dust equals a family get together.....so says shovell.......saski and claire were having a short break.....sam was fising in toulouse...in fact making a fishing film....he also had a gig in lisbon........iceland exploded......no planes.........the 2 girls found themselves with an enforced extended holiday........sam was driven to barcelona by davide a fishing friend....he did the gig and then caught a train to the algarve.......mixed weather and lots of food.....i managed to escape to zefa almancil to work on the wall for a few hours in the week.....sam...hil and i went upto salir to see chico and the other saramago wall paintings......i particularly like the totemlike highly coloured structure by the general........picture above...wednesday am at zefa 1 trying to get as much done s possible before a large black cloud emptied itself on my head.....lucky me only a few drops....i am now contemplating the next move on the wall....it seems endless.....i also have some very big canvases in the generals studio to finish....plus a peice of work for the music festival in loule

bits of manchester march 2010

2010-04-13T02:16:00.000-07:00

bits of manchester scene on foot........the sandwich shop in ducie street where philips gallery was close by.....which moved to the northern quarter.......now in tib lane........when i was a student in rochdale we used to get down onto the towpath of the medlock and walk under the city appearing in a variety of locations...... . i was incredulous at the demise of urbis...............i was on my way to see what was on.............................before i got there a friend told me the news...............the late urbis...........whatever happened to this fantastic idea of the museum of the city..............a missed opportunity that will never be reinstated....some good shows ............hacienda..........black panthers...........photos of hidden manchester...............now to become a football museum....theres one in preston i think?..............whilst walking around the northern..... quarter on my search for urban grafitti............surprise! surprise!................someone has been round with a tin of paint and hidden them.........but on a closer look there are a number of small ones left....subversion is still alive and well...i am not going to say where or what they are...in case the anti grafitti brush will be out again.........i continued on to vinyl exchange to see my friend russell marland dj.......the story so far....

malcom mclaren punk guru

2010-04-09T03:06:00.000-07:00

a sad day.....with the passing of a creative entrepeneur....i have just read a transcript of the infamous interview held with the sex pistols and bill grundy.....whilst listening to the filth and the fury a sex pistols film by julian temple....only last week i found a record of my sons whilst looking for a long forgotten john cooper clarke...beasly street....it was a todd terry remix of francoise hardy produced by malcom.......coincidences...as i have only recently started to listen to punk music....as part of a project that i am currently working on based on street art and graffiti....which will include music...i have also just started reading phil strongmans book "pretty vacant" a history of punk........
a mini extrapolation from strongmans book......." london 1975....on his way to the kitchen mclaren trips over a homeless would be guitarist....steve jones......somewhere in north london ray stevenson goes to bed....in the east end on a roof john wardle relights a joint....whilst john lydon thinks about an audition he has just had.....in a garden shed in suburban hounslow dave goodman plays his four track endlessly...in a stoke newington squat glen matlock struggles with a new riff......headlines will be made...at that moment no one new what was going to be unleashed....no one except malcom mclaren who was only 29....or possibly one of the youths on the east end roof..........

"small places"...a project in faro...an urban palimpcest.....grafitti.....punk funk.2010

2010-03-11T05:06:00.000-08:00

"small places" is a combination of flyposted walls....grafitti.......street art.........hidden messages.....lilliputian sized people...poetics.......it is an urban palimcest.....invisible cities....this project is takingplace in mariana madeiras studio in faro........it is an enormous x business space complete with pigeons and holes in the roof......the building makes eerie sounds...mariana is work on"an imginary city"constructed fom mother boards...in the shape of portugal.....i am trying link my idea with to her city.......the sheer scale of cities......exciting and also lonely....e and what part do we play in this urban playground....each of us going about our daily routine...each in our own bubble.....like ants ........the little people are here too....watching from the window....unseen.....invisible...........we are people of different tribes........different values...different customs......we inhabit the city....we work in the city....some live in the city....some have nices apartments....some live in doorways....some have jobs.....today many have no job..... decay

ian dury and conceptual art.....do what john!

2010-03-09T15:16:00.000-08:00

ian dury poet painter ex walthamstow and rca friend of peter blake...ian studied at both walthamstow and the rca....fine art painting........peter blake his teacher and later his friend taught at both institutions.....i too was an art student in the 60s.....as soon as i heard ian first records i was hooked....a poet....a punk funk poet......his wacky eccentric dress code....he was a performance and an installation all at the same time...a great stage presence and what a band.....the blockheads...so tight they nearly explode......chaz jankals percussive piano really making the music drive along....coupled with ians words that created exceptional surrealist images....tantalising stories......quirky scenarios......essex in the raw...the places had a ring to them for me some where of real memories....my grandparents lived in becontreee and later barking....we used to wait for the bus at the dutch little just outside brentwood....i remember romford cattle matket as a child...my uncle stewart and aunty ivy lived on the harold hill estate for many years.....they had a telly that used to play up so stewart used to give it a thump and that seemed to fix it......my uncle jack lived in bilericay...........upminster the end of the district line......many years later i taught at what was brentwood college of higfher education....and lived in a college house on ivy lodge lane right by the dutch little....coincidence or what...........ians lyrics combined with music were a perfect combination....i have a kind of affinity with ian ...the blockheads.... and essex........desert island discs was a sublime treat...i have a copy on video and listen to it often.
i wonder what he would have made of conceptual art......any ideas??????? i would like to find some images of ians paintings....can anyone help???????

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-JIzWFfsPk

hugo canoilas in loule march 2010....some thoughts

2010-03-06T10:39:00.000-08:00

some random thoughts on the hugo canoilas show which has just opened at espirito santo gallery in loule it runs til april 4.it contains a number of distinct peices, plus one collaboration with pedro reis. the works that i am drawn to are the text paintings....they contain references to surrealism...., the word "chance" is present...an important surrealist element....possibly the most important...are the words on these canvases "Chance" or selected?....perhaps in this context....they are conceived .....planned ....organised....are they a message?....the message is the medium....that rings a bell!.....are these paintings conceptual peices like other works in the show ?....or do they make references to jasper johns!.......the letterforms sit on or in an unidentified place or space....is there reference here to colour field painting...a la rothko or more to newman whose shapes extend beyond the picture plane.....some of the text in these paintings are missing .....are they to beyond the picture plain!!!..is pop art present ....that movement of the 60s that took popular imagery as its starting poiut......these text poems have an autographic feel....they have a painterly presense, including accidental marks left by the stencil...this is not chance or random...this is using these two elements in a positive way,,,,even though they are produced with an anonymous stencil...a stencil that would be used to label a sack or a parcel.......the text generated from the computer does not follow this archaic system....the computer controls the spaces between letters....there is no happy accident....."rivers" run amock in present day print........i am interested in the way that they are presented....not hanging on a wall but hanging back to back....you are invited to find out!..........if tjere are any spelling mistakes then so be it....its chance......over the years my own work has been influenced by artists such as magrtte ..daniel sporrie....concrete poetry....hockney....alfred jarrry...and crossword uzzles........words...signs and cymbols...myths and legends....borrowing from other cultures.........lots of mental suitcases full of collections of experiences...thoughts....conscious and subconscious connections....that might interconnect a any given time......below are 2 canoilas works and one of my number paintings.....my routes are in pop and the early conceptual days in the 60s whilst still a student...its interesting how events go around....and re appear......we have ideas that we redress like a cindy doll?????? the doll remains constant........? the equisite corpse?

zefa and rama and hettie goverts a mystery artist and gallery margem

2010-03-03T05:18:00.000-08:00

this week i am busy at zefa 1 in almancil on a new painting based on the ramyana,,,,when out of the blue....a message from holland...who could it be...how did they find me....or why?.....hettie had been visiting th algarve last year and went to see joao viegas...joel mestre et al at margem...she was looking for a studio top work in so they pointed her in the direction of zefa...and off she went...spending a lot of time talking as she says with her arms and legs....and taking lots of photos......whilst back home she forgets the name etc etc....and does a googly.....bingo...a hit.....which goes to show that blogs are good for you......have a look at hetties paintings @........goverts.info

works starts on the ramayana canvas.....the whole idea is a theatre....rama and sita acting out the epic...the stage curtains are the sky....sita who is based on a rajistan doll that i bought in pushkar..... standing on a carpet of floating clouds......the skyline comprises some of the buildings @ zefa 1 in almancil

zefa 1 almancil...feb 2010.....ramayana......new canvases

2010-02-26T11:48:00.000-08:00

the weather has been holding me up on my saramago mural...rain rain rain! bota filipe of zefa contemporary art centre has offered me some huge canvases almost 3 metres squarish its like working on a football pitch after the small scale of my own studio....free reign on starting point......having recently returned from india...i intend to base the new work on the ramayana an ancient sanskrit epic some 50000 lines long...which tells the story of rama and sita....of how her father offers his daughters hand in marriage to the man that can pull the great bow....its akin to excalibar........rama succeeds with ease...rama and krishna are synonyms for vishnu.....he is an avatar.....the first canvas is a terrestial forest...eden...paradise....shangrila....forests hold secrets....trysts....it is a backcloth for adventures...are they in the forest now...what or who is lurking....good and evil ....who knows....my intention is to produce series of canvases that exist as complete in themselves... stories in their own right but can also relate together to tell a bigger story.......i have an oldish copy of the ramayana from india that i am reading now....its always interests me how chance? plays its part....2 years ago i went to the british library in london for the first time for 40 years...and what was the exhibition on show....illustrations for the ramayana....chance eh! here is a photo of the first painting in progress.......you will see that it is in portrait format...today bota said that we had a problem the wall that is earmarked for the paintings slopes downwards....the other canvases will have to be landscape....im pleased i found out today and not next week.........
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yu9iGhM35Xo

mariana madeiras studio ......faro

2010-02-24T15:26:00.000-08:00

on feb 10 i arranged to visit mariannas studio in faro...we met outside the market....and set off for the studio....i had parked my jeep right outside...mariana put the key in the lock and pulled a huge roller door back to reveal an industrial sized interior....that was the ground floor....amazing....in the dim light...the smell of the pigeon shit hanging heavily in the air......up an iron staircase into a space that felt like an aircraft hanger........suddenly there was a flutter of wings...we had disturbed the resident birds...........there was a constant sound of dripping water....entering from openings in the roof.....lakes had been formed....the sound of traffic outside filtered its way into the echoing cavernous area.........as we walked across the floor towards one such lake ....there was something emerging or submerged in the water... a city made from motherboards in the shape of portugal... a possible city covering the whole country....the drama is intensified by the world that it occupies...it is a secret world......the shoppers unaware of what is going on in here....its an empty building...

i dont want to go to burnley.....john cooper clarke @ it again

2010-02-24T13:37:00.000-08:00

i have always had a thing about lower ince...know idea y...just one of those things...well heres jccs piece about not wanting to go 2 burnley...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kLhZTP4ywY

more john cooper clarke........p...i...e...s

2010-02-19T14:43:00.000-08:00

this is ace....i cant help but think of wigan....the epicentre of pie eating in the world.....pooles pies were to die for........lamb and mint.....yum! yum! pigs bum........please send your pie memories....for this blog

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Vc4JJ8C4N0&NR=1

john cooper clarke.......beasley street

2010-02-19T13:41:00.003-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZymVWuMKVk

john cooper clarke the lanky stand up poet from salford appearing regularly with punk bands delivering uneasy urban observations on culture.....quirky rythmns.......spoken in a slow salfordian drawl but at an amazing speed...adding to the theatrical menace of the verse....he is tall...skinny......edgy....urban....he has lost none of this personna........in his shades....this video based on beasley street captures in images the story.....its worth the time waiting for it to load......it is loaded with exacting observations....not pretty...but ...true....he magnified and dissected life in the local environment........hardships.....somewhere between tragedy and comedy.......beasley street is not just northern it could be any english urban space..........

buzzcocks.....and the punk postman

2010-02-15T06:42:00.000-08:00

http://www.last.fm/music/Buzzcocks/+videos/+1-Fd1WK0ecmko
john the postman worked in a sorting office from 72 to 80 the shifts that he worked were tailormade for finishing work...getting togged up and out to a gig....he has kept every ticket from gig one...in a shoebox...he also sold records around manchester....his great claim to fame is or was at a buzzcocks gig...the band left the stage...leaving a microphone....this was his big moment....one great leap and he was on stage belting out louie louie.....the big tune from the 60s...who knows why he chose this.....no one will ever know......perhaps he still doesnt know......a ccapello no less...no mean feat....inventing his own version as he performed........he was drunk of course.......now that is pure opportunism....it epitomises the punk era of do it yourself....he says he never performed sober!!!this was his first outing at band on the wall no less....he also says you didnt get many students at the punk gigs....which was good......it was a working class thing........his favourite band were the fall......... watch the vid it might take a while..... if you have broad band youre ok .....ive got rubber band...it takes forever...

projecto carmone..plus...antonio alonso.....tavira

2010-02-15T06:41:00.000-08:00

what a packed weekend of culture first projecto carmone in quarteira run single handedly by maria braga in a basement apartment close to beira mar cafe on the sea front......she has plans to show videos, films, to have small scale exhibtions.....there is a small compact collection of books and periodicals....it is an antedote to the usual commercial enterprise........i went along with milita dore to see a screening of a godard film from the 60s starring a young brigite bardot and an intriguing casting of jack palance....usually the screen tough guy.........this was followed by a short vidio entitled kings and queens and lovers....the content of which argued the portraying of reality...how an actors portrays reality...what is reality...what is acting...what is the truth...how images are constructed to tell a story...this video had it roots in the godard film...which made an interesting comparison...it was hard work for me listening to french and reading portuguese substitles....i did grasp some of it?????
then off to tavira for and exhibition by antonio alonso an artists who is travelling around the world...the work on show here is from his recent sojourn in africa....utilising cut painted oil drums........he was born in angola...his work is a celebration of colour....they are optimistic.....his journeys feed his inner being.....i love his comment......"and at night, the artist sleeps and dreams of neon lights and the sound of the black harlems music.....Ill be back he murmurs......my favourite....." i go away, in order to return"

november 20 friday.....confusing eh!

2010-02-08T12:01:00.000-08:00

november 20 friday...very confusiong its now feb 9.....8 got it wrong...2010......back in trichi...the usual...up....shower...out....rickshaw to the fort......7am...no messing!!!!.....the rock is impressive adorned with a temple on top......451 steps apparently....painted red and white....lots of derelict looking rooms off to the left and right...the grass is always greener.......on up ...legs ....going...not sure where...the last 300 are smaller but steeper in the rise....possibly to make the last part of the journey a little harder..after all we are going to a temple in the sky.........on the way up i spotted a trinket shop run by an old shopkeeper........a recap the street to the rock is infested with shops selling plastic gods......plastic flowers ...plastic toys....tac everywhere....first it is shoes off....on the way up we were allowed into a part of the temple for hindus only...a priveledge....perhaps it was because we out so early......who knows!!...up...up....looking in the rooms....that are locked...out of reach...iside sculted horses....bookcases full of ancient texts???.....at last the very top...just eagles and panoramic views.....absolutely amazing...we are on the roof of the world....close to god?????...almost there i chatted with a priest...we met later and he explained some ofi the ancient carvngs on the walls...he also pointed an entrance to a secret tunnel.....it was quick on the descent...we stopped for a breather.....just through a partly open door we could see a cow......we went in to find more with their keepers.......they were picking up cow muck..we shook hands...tea...they washed their hands in a bcket full of watery shit......tea was served....another new experience.....stopped at the old mans stall and spent a few rupees..........we collected our footwear....and away down the street

manc....60s to punk.......culture

2010-02-06T12:19:00.000-08:00

..jimmy savile...dj@ the plaza club on oxford street...filled the place every lunchtime....bands like hermans hermits..the hollies...wayne fontana an the mindbenders....and in london the rolling stones....not forgeting the beatles in liverpool......the british beat boom had begun ...in 64-66 i was an art student in rochdale...the black and white photo....moody figure in window is me circa 62..... ..we met in the san remo coffee bar in drake street........trad jazz still hung on ......in 1961 the oasis coffee bar opened ...followed by twisted wheel ........the three coins in fountain street....young mancs had plenty of places to go clubs galore....venues applenty...bands and djs by the score all ingredients for a good night out.....nothing has changed.....the mods were the dominant tribe.......there was very little unemployment at the time...there was an economic boom teenagers had jobs and cash ideal conditions for a high profile...fast moving pop culture....purple hearts....in the mid 60s there was massive police activity...the chief constable decided teenage culture was a menace......the cavern was raided...heaven and hell club....we went to london....carnaby street...swinging london........when there were pidgeons in trafalgar square.........the i c a gallery.....nxt stop punk john cooper ckarke et al....

urban manchester and algarve street art.....

2010-02-04T10:32:00.000-08:00

at the moment i am reading a book by dave haslam ex hacienda dj about the rise of the pop cult city manchester.............. tracing peoples leisure pursuits from the 1850s to the present day.......it would appear to revolve around drinking and brawling at the weekend.....the coming of the industrial revolution.....low pay....bad conditions....slum living....back to backs....the chartists....corn laws...........gang mentality....hanging around on street corners....the monkey parade....lads and lasses dressed in their best....out walking and srutting their stuff....each gang had a particular mode of dress.........teddy boys....mods and rockers....nothings changed............the music halls...the brothels....the temperance movement....too no avail.........fast forward to the arrival of jazz...the cinema.......influences of the usa.........as haslam says you cant put an import control on ideas and attitudes.......manchester has always been a raucus city right from the start.....london had little influnce over what went on....the cotton trade came and declined .....the great depression....it didnt dampen the cities young on their saturday night out...a taste of honey....love on the dole.........what has this to do with the art of the street??????????.......this then is the backdrop to urban art........what then is the connection with the sunny algarve and its street art??????? the obvious is the images more often than not appear in run down communities....yes they do exist here in the sunny algarve.........abandoned of all hope.... the arts council of england was set up to challenge the influnces of the usa and others.......to late!!!!!!!!! i want to try and understand a little more of why.it so proliferate...from tags to illustrations in their broadest sense.........some humourous...some political and some unplacabl;e.....many angry!!!!!

art street art the fine line...........

2010-02-03T10:58:00.000-08:00

street art is something that i have been interested in for a long time....in particular fly posted walls.....that have a layered history....many years ago i did a digital peice based on walls in manchester....hiding serious information in the imagery.... the title of the work was "urban palimpsest" and was exhibited in digital summer in manchester.......in the past year i have been busy painting murals here in portugal...based on stories by jose saramago and i am interested in their connections ...if any? questions like why do we paint?....is one form better than another?........i have been photographing bits of walls....graffitti......quirky things....in manchester....barcelona....tangier.....madrid.......chennai.......london.....lisbon....ever since.......and now quarteira.......i am interested in the fine line between images that communicate in a pictorial sense.......the use of tags.......and urban scrawl....are they cries of look at me?....the walls always seem to be in rundown enviroments....is there and what if ...is the reason for this?.....at the moment i am not reading any texts about the whys and wherefores of this art form....,i am keeping an open mind.....when i go walking in quarteira every morning i see some really amazing images by pixal parazit........here are a few to look @.........we also have the wall on facebook????????

trichy by ricklshaw....probably the shortest journey....

2010-01-24T12:45:00.000-08:00

left by ricshaw to make the short trip to trichi...and the ashby hotel........a place that is faded at the edges.....in the garden is a huge palm roofed gazebo like structure...under which are cane tables and chairs.....very collonial......our room was dark wood panelled with a stuttering fan and a tv........lunch uner the palm terrace....wow..........deep fried shredded vegetables in a light batter and green pea marsala....this is some of the best food i have ever eaten....with a subtle chinese influence..........headed of out in search of an internet cafe for our daily dose....culture in the morning.....pixels and e mails in the afternoon........i went off to the bus station just for a look....it was total mayhem...bodies everywhere...every shape and size.....people sitting on bags.....sleeping....people begging......street sellers.......wonderful food smeels....pakora....samosas....indian sweets.... jelabis what a collage of life and the noise and the bustle and the bus horns honking.......returned to the ashby for another meal this time with giger tea......the place might look a bit worn out and faded but what a good atmosphere and friendly staff........we finished the day with a nightcap....not what you think.......a lemon soda with a pinch of salt.....wat will tomorrow bring???? the ashby is close by the bus station....our first impression of trichi is its a bit of a dump......but heh! lets give it a chance.....today has been one of the most memorable in my life.....they the memoriews have been filed away.....the priest and the holy water......the elephant blessing....they will act as triggers to recontruct these events.....i have a new hobby....asking shopkeepers for old news posters....mad eh! ....who cares...certainly not me....what next?

trichi

2010-01-24T12:02:00.000-08:00

more india

2010-01-23T15:57:00.003-08:00

november 20 friday trichi....

2010-01-23T15:57:00.001-08:00

up....then followed by a shower.....coooooold!!!!!!!........out....negotiate a rickshaw to tghe fort........we are talking 7am here!!!!!! yep 7am........the rock is impressive it has temple perched at the very summit.....457 steps we are told...im sure if im going to count them though....they are painted red and white......the last 30 or so are much steeper probably something to do with more effort needed to reach the temple.....the entrance to the temple is via a bustling market selling shiva...ganesha nik naks......first shoes of and in

rickshaw to trichy

2010-01-21T11:40:00.003-08:00

as it says rickshaw to trichi.....

shrirengham

2010-01-19T14:25:00.003-08:00

a good nights sleep awoke early 6am and out just before 7am.....standing on the balcony the view from all sides are temples and archways its absolutely breathtaking...we are staying on the main thoroughfare to the temples....some of the biggest in india...there is a constant stgream of pilgrims on their way to pujas.......before we set out the elderly ;ady of the hotel got us some strong tea....it was strong stuff...it would set us up for the morning....a delightful smiling lady very gentle in her manner.....we were up and away into the throng joining the tidal wave of pilgrims....we really felt part of it....not a tourist in site...apart from us....this wave of humanity was going in various directions because there so many temples....we were weaving our way through archways which are the entrances to the temples....the streets are bulging with people and the shops were starting to open up for the day ahead....no hassle this early the streetwise sellers were still in bed....the only word that i have to describe the scene is ...gobsmacked by the sheer size and beauty and atmosphere of the temples standind all around an imposing presense that dwarfed the small town....the photos that we take will only show a glimpse of what we emotionally felt...awe....we were entranced .......finding hidden corners.....tiny roadside shrines...a priest that we talked too who gave us holy water....a privelidge....no hassle ....a general hum of pilgrims praying...giving offerings...they to wre excited...people from different parts of india.....lots of groups of men dressed in similar coloured lungis...their heads decorated bwith bindy marks and colours....all smiling ....pleased to be at this holy place just like us......in the temple i was blessed by an elephant after putting a small denomination coin in his trunk....he gently touched my head with his trunk..........a very special moment in my life...we walked around the temples soaking up the atmosphere...often sitting quietly watching and listening....the temptation is to use the camera.....then you can miss the total experience to easily .....i dont want to only see india through a lens.....even the words dont do the visit justice ... i hope that they at least convey our state of mind in that few hours....the rest of the world did not exist......we were in another world........................back to a different reality....looking for a bank....not as easy as you think......finally the hotel keeper arranged for a money changer to come from trichi by rickshaw.........this can only happen in india....this event was followed by lots of laughter ....hand shaking and tips all round.......what a friendly bunch of people........then it was time to move on....

catching the train south.......november 18...in the afternoon...

2010-01-19T03:37:00.000-08:00

after the ceremony...said our goodbyes at the internet cafe ....... into a rickshaw...destination...the station.....funny feeeling we really felt sad to leave...we had made good friends........waited at the station for ages.......rain....rain.....finally the train arrived on time as they do in india....where are our seats...non of the rail staff seemed to know...however we helped by a fellow traveller....we bumped and banged our way in the train....through various carriages....the kitchen area...great smells....finally our bunks....stowed the bags and within minutes the samosa wallah was there....fantastic food....5 rs....followed by the tea wallah.....followed by the pakora wallah.........sat back and enjoyed the view and read my jackdaw magazine....this is the longest train that i have ever been on ...we walked almost the full length of it looking for our seats.....whenever the train stops men get out and stand by the side of the track stretching their legs...the engine toots and they get back on board as the train moves away gathering speed rapidly........i spent a lot of time standing at the end of the carriage with door wide open enjoying the wind hitting my face....i chatted happily with other travellers................3 more stops to go........2 more stops to go........the train slows....we get the bags ready....the train stops......so i hang out off the open door ..the station is a few hundred yards away....a fellow passenger suggests we get out and walk along the track....luckily someone advises not to.....very sensible as it turned out ....it wasnt our station.......a false alarm.....we continued for a further 45 miles.....at last we are there.....bags out....hustle and bustle....negotiate a rickshaw and off to the ashby hotel, which proved to be quite elusive....finally we find it and sign in...more forms......a lovely old lady showed us our room.....the proprietor asked if we had eaten.....no......he advised us to go next door....a simple street cafe, which turned out to be owned by the hotel....dosa served on a palm leaf....all the food was cooked in the street, and very tasty it was.....the signing in and eating all seemed to happen in 10 minutes....we took a quick walk to spy the lie of the land....bought three cakes...eat them....bed....an amazing day...a puja...a train ride.....another part of the adventure unfurls........

a day in kanchi....november 18.......more surprises

2010-01-18T04:14:00.000-08:00

up and about in a leisurely fashion.....bags packed...cameras...video...notebooks....guides....sweets etc and off to the small temple opposite were we were staying ..the same place that i had watched the wedding the day before....there was a puja for a family going to kerula.....food was prepared for the jourrney for the spirit and the body.......rice..coconuts......and various mixtures.....which were blessed in the temple.....the whole family were going on the trip......i spoke wth their grandfather....he was dressed totally in white.... who explained what was going on....he said he wasnt sure why kerula....god is everywhere.....we both agreed...we talked about the ceremony and the journey we were made most welcome at the event......he was 72........the ceremony culminated in a coconut being thrown onto the doorway of the temple.....splintering into a thousand shards accompanied by chants from the priest ....meanwhile more sustanence was being prepared for the children.....food filled coconuts sealed with wax....we are very lucky to be present......the only strangers around.......so far on our trip we havent seen another white face...we are not on the tourist trail....incense filled the air of this tiny temple that was situated just off the main thoroughfare....whilst we were there the rest of the world did not exist we were enveloped in a hindu mystical world...not fully understanding but comprehending the spiritual journey that lay ahead of the family....in a small way we were part of their pilgrimage.....we were also on a journey of discovery both inward and outward...the family then went off in a suzuki 4 wheel drive....unexpected....we thought they might be walking ...well it is 2009........lunch and a rickshaw to the station....

tuesday november 16 or sunday january 17...up and out in kanchi

2010-01-17T08:06:00.000-08:00

up and out up the gangyai road...the silk area of town...but we dont want any silk ...so we decided against the hussle and hassle....great we spotted a market....more our thing...hil saw some bananas...then saw a few more.....an understatement.....one guy gave me some coconut to eat......the monsoon....more rain ....so we sheltered in the veg market and talked to some of the stallholders and took a few pics...grteat fun.....I then had breakfast 2 veda with chickeas.....rain....rain.....yes more rain......negotiated a rickshaw/ better known as a tuk tuk......how much 50....20...50......he insisted on 50 we agreed 40 rupees....back to the baboo.....hil got back to the internet cafe where we had already made good friends with the young owner a a team of small laughing boys...it wa a pleasure to be in there ...such a tiny place but helpfuka nd friendky.....i went off with the camera.....then lunch thali special for 90 rupees....the off to another temple vaikunta by rickshaw.....15 rs......a guide was insisted on..we didnt want one...no option?....he wasnt happy with the money i offered so i gave him a little more....this doesnt happen very often.........after the temple we wandered maless towards where we staying finding more street shrines....we then signed up for indian sim cards...smart move we thought...more on this later.....hil went back to the internet and i wandered off down town to a busy roundabout...its fascinating watching tyhe incessant movement of people and traffic as though the fumes werent enough a truck roared aroud belching fume everywhere...there was a slogan on the side trying to make people aware of pollution...no one batted an eyelid...it was just another old truck...i spent a fascinating hour or at different places...just watching taking pictures and thinking random thoughts....went to find hil...but was interupted by some distant drumming....coming fromma small temple close by the internet cafe....a wedding ceremony...the muscians spilt onto the busy treet disrupting the traffic fuirther...no one seemed to mind....its interesting you seldom find indians getting annoyed as people in europe do.......the muscians were followed by the bride and groom...then they disappeared into the banquetting hall with the guests.....i talked with a few of them ....all great fun.......almost forgot to take any pics....met hil....mucked about with the lads and people in the street who i had photographed the day before we were becoming part of the street....evening meal and then off out into the night for cakes...15 rs

saturday january 16....is there anybody there?.....off we go to kanchipuram......

2010-01-16T04:21:00.001-08:00

its really sunday.....up at 5am .. yes 5am.......wash....dress and pay the bill........batting through the city....driver said lets have breakfast.....off into a roadside cafe....dosa...veda...idli samba etc...shear delight........as we approached kanchi we could see in the distance towering against the sky a temple building........this is why we are here....excitement in the air...anticipation......the streets were buzzin at 8am...shoes off and into the temple....people bathing in the tank.....elephants.....wherever you looked it was visual feast brilliant lored saris...people and the sounds and smells....tucked in a corner wasa mango tree it was otally surrounded by enand women....mostly women walking around the tree,clockwise.whilst other women decorated small shrines with flowers,incense,oils and tiny wooden beds were hung in the branches of the tree........this is a fertility ritual the sight of all the saris and the chanting.....the general hub bub was amazing........kanchi really is temple town.....we wre so excited visiting the temples we have all therir names mixed up.....within the temples are small shrines to ganesh...shiva and others these were of real interest to me....i think that is to do with their scale, they are often in odd places....like part of a column...hidden in a corner....you do have to look or them...you also find them in shops....houses by the side of the road........the shrines are everywhere....they are part of daily life....our driver had been excellent extremely helpful with knowledge of the temples.....friendly and polite in a short time we had built a good relationship...when it was time to part it was a sad moment....we had become a close family....he dropped us off at hotel baboo soorya.....settled into our new temporary home then off out in search of an intrenet cafe....for our daily dose....whilst hil was e mailing i was off around the backstreets talking to people and taking photos...i had some wine gums with me and they gained me entry to all sorts of houses and people...treat people how you want to treated yourself........do you remember the airport fun....at the hotel we paid for our meal with an.........old note......the manager was very concerned...we explained and we all saw the funny side of things.....then we went to an evening ceremony in a nearby temple with elephants in a procession and music...and holy men pulling a cart......it was a ceremony celebrating the new moon.....what an amazing end to a day that started so early.....

friday january 15.....chennai and a bit further

2010-01-15T10:00:00.001-08:00

up shave...dress......opened the door and there waiting for us was the indian sunday times which i read whilst eating my boiled egg followed by toast and jam........replete our taxi arrived....you say it was raining.....this is real rain the monsoon....yuk....our journey took us right throught the city ....soon we were speeding south down the south coast road towards cholomondal.....the artists village...we thought we would call and say hello....we are booked to stay for a week at the end of our tour....we were nade most welcome by shanti the general factotem....more about the village later.....then we sped on past an amazing partly derelict theme park.....more on this later..............i am already thinking about what i might do at the village....sped on a bit more ...not really we were in an old Ambassador....more like trundle............we arrived at the madras craft centre...we had a good look around on foot...more rain we were almost swimming.....dont forget this is day 2....rain....rain and more rain......saw a liitle show of digital art......then swam back to the Ambassador.......detoured to kapareesh and took a photo...wow.....suddenly an elderly umbrellered gentleman offered his services.....we should say or i should have known better.....it will happen again ....no doubt.......

december 14 chennai...the start of the adventure

2010-01-14T11:40:00.000-08:00

I dont beleive my eyes.....its january 14 today and the day in my reverse diary is december 14...what a coincidence.....karma or what.....may the force be with me as luke skywalker says...i must tell you that i am not a jedi warrior just a bloke in india with his wife on a mad escapade....well we are back in portugal now...i must add here that i did keep a diary every day so far i havent refered to the tome yet....but i am sure that i will..........the first day was wet and grey...great...we got a taxi to take us on a trip around the city so that we could get our bearings....the photo shows marina beach on the south side of the city....it is a favourite spot for indians at the weekend...there are hundreds of stalls selling trinkets and general tat and food stalls sellimg pakora and fresh deep fried fish...yum...yum......later in the diary i will show you some photos...its great this retro diary .....im having fun reliving the ad venture...
the second photo shows the very southern end of the beach......a fishing community....the first thing that we noticed was the derelict houses and the shanty town that had sprung up this is not unusual in india...we stood looking at the scene thinking that the colours reminded us of howard hodgkin paintings,,,we were about to take photos but something inside us said no???? are we voyeurs....why take photos it didnt seem right......we hadnt realized this whole area had been hit by the sunami......obvoiously something had stirred inside..........we chose instead to take a walk and look...and keep the memory in our heads. that day we also visited fab india a trendy clothes shop....thsi is something that happens all the time in india......opposites....from squalor and poverty to affluence....the two sit side by side....in mumbai now they are trying to clear the slums away....they are trying to do the same at this fishermans end of marina beach...clear the slums and put up hotels and develop the area ??????????????????

croston to chennai a diary after the event

2010-01-14T10:32:00.001-08:00

this is a rather eccentric diary.....after the event....here goes...it will contain thoughts and observations...call and recall...december 13 we left manchester in what seemed like the middle of the night...have we got the passports...do the cameras have memory cards...do you remember it used to be film...i digress..we arrived at the airport curtesy of byron who incidentally took the first photo of our journey. we fiddled about waiting in anticipation of the flight..all exciting going into the unknown. first stop doha....feet barely touched the ground and we where off on the second leg....getting more and more excited......fasten your seatbelts we are approaching chennai......again the middle of the night...well midnight......the first thing that hits you is the heat...the humidity..within minutes your clothes are sticking to your skin......bags collected...this is tal start oenture......the unknown ...exciting eh?.....being used to travelling we new we had to get a pre paid taxi into the city..........been there done that...easy?????????? booked a taxi handed over the ruppees...to a chorus of indian laughter....whats the joke?????? we thought that we had been smart and taken some money with us from our last trip....how where we to know it was old money and out of date.....a hole in the wall...easy ...oh!.......problem the cards would not work...try another hole in the wall..still no luck....by this time we were about to pull our hair out...not so fast heres another machine try a different card...money money ......back to the taxi guys more laughter and we are on our way into the night in an Ambassador car the indian old faithful......at last the ymca....then the ritual of filling in forms and more forms...then when you think its all over just one more....bed ....sleep.....awoke for breakfast well lunch.........looked outside it was raining i mean raining......this is the monsoon..did we pack our wellies...will it rain every day?...who cares we are here.

2009-11-11T04:02:00.001-08:00

zefa on hold..plus bits and bats

2009-11-05T05:45:00.003-08:00

here we are again the text goes where it likes and changes font size at will.....will i ever get it right...wall on hold...the 2cv is in the field awaiting some renovations like a new front tyre, and some body filling......the mini 2cv was given to me years ago by david and helen evans who now live in australia...it surfaced like magic in my studio the other day....good "karma" for the project...its even got my name on it........guess who is sitting in the 2cv..yep?...morris minor alias sebastian...he is in charge of all renovations....quality control.....at the moment i am reading the salmon of doubt a concoction of douglas adams writings..a snippet that i like is...and even now,when i have dark night of the soul as a writer and think that i cant do this anymore, the one thing that i reach for is not the fact that i have had best sellers or huge advances. It is the fact that Frank Holland once gave me ten out of ten, and at some fundamental level i must be able to do it"

zefa 1 mad dash day off to india

2009-10-26T13:41:00.000-07:00

technology totally baffles me I cant put the text where I want to I am victim to the vagueries of the program...i have tried to load a video....no luck...i dont know why i dont jusy stick to painting the brush goes where i put it....now the text has centred....today has been busy trying to get rid of all the white as my old art teacher used to say when we were painting ...get rid of all the white then you cnn see what you are doing????.....brigita and kasia came for a visit...showed them around ...nice to see them

wall to date...wall up date....data on the wall

2009-10-25T02:00:00.000-07:00

saturday afternoon at the end of the day of "dois cavalos".......monday is my last day on the wall before our india trip...and saskia and sebastian are coming for a holiday so its off to vilamoura for icecreams......beach trips....fishing.......playgrounds in quateira........marufo a favourite chicken eatery for saskia and me.....and more ice cream for guess who?..then byron and jason arrive for some golf and probably marufo too............
the grey window frames may stay they may go they are part of an installation by the general which has now changed in its content..I have drawn hundreds of birds which jeta has painted...the birds are central to the stone raft story...however the general has had the idea that the birdsa are trapped in a huge net....but some escape to live another life...we are connecting two images or ideas...we have an ongoing dialogue about what we are both doing and trying to achieve...no two days are the same...thats the fun in the project or should i say seriously the challenge for both of us....

follow the holts on the india blog................i will also add add thoughts about the zefa wall as and when they arrive.........

in search of "deux chevaux" or "dois cavalos"

2009-10-24T12:29:00.002-07:00

antonio dias and charlie holt went in search of "Deux Chevaux" today some where near tavira, a graveyard for old cars, voila! there it was a red one.....perfect for the next part of the saga.my intention is to paint a summary of the stone raft on the car and to do something in the interior....i am only at the ideas stage so far. problem where do i keep it?....where will i work on it when the weather breaks, maybe i can put it it my studio...when i have taken the engine out...to make it lighter and movable....first job is sorting out the tyres. this is really exciting.....watch this space for more updates.............................. in the afternoon back to zefa one to continue painting, i am trying to complete the first 5 metres before we go to india....so that if there is any influence from the trip it can be built into the idea as seemlessly as possible....the first part of the painting is partially obscured by an olive tree ( a small one)

you can follow the holts india trip here on the blogspot........

www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMdYvUS6HaQ

zefa update on the raft

2009-10-22T13:23:00.001-07:00

it appears that i have little or no control where the images appear on the page....serendipity....or is there a solution?

progress on the wall the characters are appearing from the tiny door, and are flying on magic carpets...not in the story but i like the idae that the characters appear in different places all at the same time like the line that was drawn at the same time the stone was thrown like the same time pedro felt the earth tremble,,, image 2 shows the bird wall which is a combined work...i draw the birds, jeta paints them and bota filipe painted the black grid which has trapped many of the birds...some however have escaped we are connecting this section to the raft in which the starlings appear like a black cloud, originally there where grey framed windows hanging on the wall one of botas many interventions...they may very well disappear as the idea is working well visually...we have working meetings to discuss ideas each day, it is a moveable feast...nothing is fixed in tablets of stone. the wall is evolving....

lisboa a cultural visit

2009-10-22T13:08:00.000-07:00

An October cultural visit to lisboa, primarily to meet either Jose Saramago or his grandaughter Ana.
But firstly to meet and hear sam play in an underground car park at the marquis do pombal……we had a meal with the promoter and pete tha zouk portugals top dj…….what an amazing gig over 3000 people…this was the first time that we had heard sam since he played at barca in Manchester 12 plus years ago?………………….sam and gav where brilliant…they really whipped the crowd up.
Lots of culture..paula rego in caiscais……oriente museu……vera cortes gallery to talk about vhils aka Alexander Fartos work…….museu agua in principe real…and lots more
Today we met Ana with Isabel at the Saramago Foundation to talk about my ideas for a concertina book based on the Unknown Island and the Stone Raft…we chatted about possible ideas including an idea to organise a Saramago image based show…………….

zefa 1 the raft and where it is?

2009-10-11T10:22:00.001-07:00

zefa 1 update

2009-10-11T10:06:00.000-07:00

batida fotografica pelo patrimonio de loule

2009-10-11T09:53:00.000-07:00

rauls "teddy bears picnic"

2009-09-24T11:15:00.000-07:00

this should bring a smile to your face, sing along please!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZANKFxrcKU

now sit back and experience the wide screen extravaganza!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuNf70eV6sY

you are invited to send bear images, quotes and text for my "unbearable project"

have a look at this next site, images by my friend raul morgado photographer xstrawinnair?

raul can be found wandering camera in hand, cap on backwards in quirky places, there is no hiding place from his roving lens...................... http://raulmorgado.pt.vu

thoughts on travel and journeys

2009-09-23T09:27:00.001-07:00

these thoughts occur to me when i am working in my sketchbook.
travel for pleasure! a mysterious journey! the simplest journey is by foot!
"For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move." -- Robert Louis Stevenson

"One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things." –- Henry Miller

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z79Sha1NjvA&NR=1

"No matter where you go, there you are." – unknown

zefa 1 the stone raft part 2

2009-09-22T06:27:00.002-07:00

this is the start of part two of the stone raft at zefa !, in almancil, the first few pages of my sketchbook illustrating my thinking process in constructing the painting.the adventure continue from the "salir painting", the story so far, is about cause and effect, joana carda scratches a mark on the ground at the same time the dogs bark in cerberes...how can this be they have no vocal chords?
the story now tells of how the various participants in this mystery met and travel together .....with the dog ever guiding them...the dog with the blue thread in his mouth!i am continuing the idea of theatre, a stage set on which the characters live out the story.
a crack appears in astone in the pyrenees/
this painting starts with " alice" lifting the curtain to reveal a tiny door?....where does it lead??? where is the blue thread leading them?
joaquim sassa and jose anaico meet and decide to set out together, they sleep under an olive tree. joaquim gets up early and gets " deux cheveaux", it has a quiet gentle engine.........jose appears from then trees surrounded by 1000s of starlings so many the sky is black.
off they go in search of pedro orse who lives in orce near granada.pedro felt the ground under his feet tremble at the very instant joan scratched the ground at the very moment joaquim threw the stone at the same moment the dogs barked?
they are being drawn by an invisible magnet?
follow the journey and experience the sights!
i am including many different references from david hockneys "mulholland drive" painting to magrittes " empire of light"
who else will they encounter on this myterious escapade?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7pvA4EHi08

kerstin wagners open studio sept 19 and 20

2009-09-19T06:42:00.000-07:00

kirstin wagner opened her studio " ganesha"to friends and visitors over the weekend.kirstin is a friend and fellow member of the algarve artists network.
you can see more of kerstins work a http://www.kerstin-wagner-art.de/

exposicao "a danca dos ursos" loule

2009-09-19T06:00:00.000-07:00

the dancing bears are on show in loule from 18 sept to oct 5 at the castello,here i am with "ursa major minor",alongside me is my friend joao espada with his "urso" , see more at http://www.dancadoursos.com/, the bears will reappear at a different location soon.the jazz band "quarteto belle de jour" played during the evening. a group of bears is called "a sleuth" can anyone tell me why?

listen to this, a blast from the past....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8zI5xjwKYw

mobile home project loule 2009

2009-09-17T12:46:00.000-07:00

mobile home a project that was run in loule as part of the allgarve art shows shown across the region during the summer,many of the shows where presented in unusual locations for example the salt mines in loule, a church in silves and fonte de pipe an old manor house in loule. milita dore an artist friend took part in the workshops,running over 5 weeks a very concentrated work period. 25 artist from the region took part and where aided by a number of guest artist/tutors whose role was to instigate a series of workshops that where thought provoking, the course was a combination of practice and theory, all members bouncing ideas around and off each other.this show is a presentation of some of the experiences that the artists worked through.the show is housed in an ex olive press which is a fascinating environment in its own right.the work is presented anonomously as it is a collective experience no part more important than whole, it is an accumulation of the results of thinking, it is the start of a kind of self-questioning...searching for a new language a means of presenting ideas.the show has the feeling of a " laboratory", there are many surprises to be had, some statements are part of the fabric of the building, sitting quietly waiting to be seen...or not as the case might be?some of the works are collaborations between artists.

the museum is a intruiging idea using the contained spaces in the press like a labyrinth of ideas and images.we feel like giants in the land of lilliput, a cabinet of curiosities.

it was instructive and enlightening having milita talk about the input of each artist/tutor each bringing something different to the project, which was a part of the whole.how the participants related to each other..............

the great colin jellicoe

2009-08-26T14:06:00.001-07:00

today i visited my manchester artist friend "the great colin jellicoe", his gallery has been running in manchester for almost 50 years, a real achievement ,he has seen gallerys come and go and he is still in portland street.if you visit the gallery then be prepared for an eccentric establishment i get great pleasure out of my visits. you can make a virtual visit at http://www.colinjellicoe.co.uk/ do not be fooled with this technology ,colin still uses a typewriter.he is a manchester legend with a mischievous glint in his eye.