SAATCHI GALLERY TALK: IS THERE SUCH A THING AS BRITISH ART?

Above painting is by Barry Reigate.

SAATCHI GALLERY

IS THERE SUCH A THING AS BRITISH ART?

Louisa Buck, Hew Locke and Barry Reigate in conversation
7.30pm, 29 November 2010
Tickets: £10 / £6 students - Book now

With the opening of Newspeak: British Art Now at the Saatchi Gallery, and the British Art Show 7 at Nottingham Contemporary, the question of British Art is once again in the spotlight. Both exhibitions include a host of radically divergent artists connected by 'Britishness'. Does this tag reveal anything more than shared geography?

Artists Hew Locke and Barry Reigate, and journalist Louisa Buck, discuss the problematic concept of British Art as a coherent context for artistic production. Is there a particular British sensibility, style or technique discernable in contemporary art produced in the UK today? Or, have we reached a point at which the idea of a national artistic identity has broken down leaving a multiplicity of artistic forms and languages?

Speakers:

Louisa Buck is a writer and broadcaster on contemporary art. She is a columnist for The Art Newspaper and a regular reviewer on BBC radio and TV. Her books include Moving Targets 2: A User's Guide to British Art Now (2007), Market Matters: The Dynamics of the Contemporary Art Market (2009) and Owning Art: The Contemporary Art Collector's Handbook (2006, with Judith Greer). Buck was a judge for the Turner Prize in 2005.

Hew Locke lives and works in London. Locke moved from Edinburgh to Guyana where he spent his formative years. Back in the UK he completed an MA in sculpture at the Royal College. Locke has exhibited extensively around the UK, including Tate Britain, The V&A Museum, The New Art Gallery Walsall, Rivington Place, The Bluecoat Gallery and The British Museum. In the US he has shown at The Luckman Gallery LA, The New York Museum of Art and Design, Atlanta Contemporary Arts and at The Brooklyn Museum. Locke has recently been shortlisted for the 4th Plinth Commission, and will be exhibiting as part of the Folkestone Triennial in 2011. He is represented by Hales Gallery in London.

Barry Reigate lives and works in London. He completed an MA in Fine Art at Goldsmiths University and has since gone on to exhibit internationally. His work has been included in major national shows such as Rude Britannia: British Comic Art at Tate Britain and Newspeak: British Art Now at the Saatchi Gallery, and in exhibitions at Trolley Gallery, Baibakov Art Projects, Moscow, Chapman Fine Arts, The Agency Gallery and Stephen Friedman Gallery. He is represented by Paradise Row Gallery in London.


Is there such a thing as British Art?
7.30 pm, Monday, 29 November 2010
Saatchi Gallery
Duke of York's HQ
King's Road
London SW3 4SQ
www.saatchigallery.com/talk
Tickets: £10 / £6 students - Book now

Partnered by Broadword Group

SAATCHI GALLERY,
Duke of York's HQ,
King's Road,
London,
SW3 4SQ

www.saatchigallery.com

Update

Just back from driving along country lanes admiring the beautiful autumn colours this morning. I have made some good progress with my book despite being a slow writer, but I do love writing. The introduction and a section on the history and folklore of the olive tree is nearly there now. I will be starting the chapters on starters and breads and pastries next. I am getting a clear idea of how I want the front cover to look, white words against a turquious blue background, with my painting of intermingling olives, lemons and bourgainvilleas,set against it.

I feel so excited about the book, that I have made up my mind to self publish if I have to. Interestingly enough, as I was flipping through my local paper The Malvern Gazette, I came across an article featuring a local company who specialize in self publishing. They will be giving a talk at the local library shortly and I will make sure to go along with my questions. I will find out more about lulu.com who also specialize in this.

This year I have decided to make my own christmas cards, so next week I will be working on a painting for that.

Another idea keeps comming into my head with ever greater insistence, and this will be the subject of my next project after I have finished my book. For some time now I have been looking for a way to combine science and art as a basis for an exhibition of paintings that deal with things happening now, things that effect all of us and I think I have found what I was looking for. As always you have the conflict between the little voice that says 'Don't be ridiculous, who on earth would be interested' and the big voice that says 'Why not, if you are going to dream, you can dream big just as easily as you can dream small, go for it' Today I told Little voice to take a hike.

I have already identified the two people I would like to work with on this, but I happened to mention my idea to a scientist I know, he was interested enough to say that if I was serious about it he would like to get his company involved in helping to promote or sponsor me.

There is a great deal of work to do, but all of it is exciting and inspiring. How lucky am I. No matter what age we are, life stops being exciting when we stop dreaming. I expect to feel inspired when I am 90.

The Amazing Olive

Amazing what can inspire you, so often it is the very things that have been there all along. My family own an Olive grove in Cyprus. They have had it in the family for hundreds of years. Every year towards the end of September, they harvest the olives. The olives that are 'ripe' are marinated and prepared for eating. The olives that are not ripe, are prepared in two different ways. One way is to sun dry them for a week, then take then to the village olive oil press, to produce dark olive oil. The other way is to take the unripened olives directly to the olive oil press to produce green olive oil. Either way it tastes wonderful.
All of this is done naturally and organically, without any chemicals.

My mind kept going back to those olive groves, I thought about all the beneficial properties of the olive, the wonderful food you can create using it, the environment it grows in, the colours, light and sun. There are so many things you can use olives and olive oil for, which I will share with you as I find out more. I will also post some authentic recipes.

Thinking about this wonderful subject has inspired many ideas for paintings. I have a
large project in mind. To start with, I will be doing a lot of research, I want to find out as much as possible, to make it authentic. This will mean a trip to Cyprus, where I was born, with note books, sketch books and camera. I see it as an exciting journey, and I will share it with you along the way.

First though,I have some drawings and and some paintings to finish off. Some of these will be exhibited at the Worcester Arts Fair, August 22nd. I will be here with some of my colleagues from the Blue Ginger Small Business Breakfast Club. If you are in the area, please come along and say hello, it will be lovely to meet you. I will post more about this nearer the time, as well as some of my paintings.

Please feel free to post your comments, it is always good to get some feedback and I will be sure to answer any questions or querries you may have.