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Things couldn’t be more different in the Epstein Archive at the moment after the excitement of the Party! exhibition opening. It was great fun doing the performance of the Epstein puppet theatre with Bob – there was a great turn out and it seemed like other people enjoyed it too which was nice. Bob is not in Walsall again until May, where he is in residence in the Artists Studio every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday throughout the month. Who knows what will happen, but it’s going to be good. Between now and then there is going to be lots and lots of cataloguing on the go. The archive is taking shape nicely, all of the letters to Jacob Epstein and almost all of the letters to Kathleen Garman are now catalogued and searchable online – you can find the catalogue here. This is a pretty long process, but thankfully our small band of intrepid volunteers, Jonathan Kelham, Ellie Matthews and Lesly Pritchard, are helping me with the catalouging.
Seeing as it’s Friday, let’s relive a few songs from the Party! opening courtesy of The Ken Ardley Playboys. I think you will agree that I won The Epstein Quiz (the very loud voice next to camera).
David Shrigley Talk – A special treat!
Hello our friends,
On Friday 26 February at 2pm join David Shrigley for an introduction to his work. David was commissioned to create a series of drawings especially for the PARTY exhibition. His typically surreal cartoon-like drawings capture both the escapism of partying and in contrast, remind us of the reality of birthdays.
As we anticipate a high interest, the talk will take place at the new and stunning building of Walsall College (Wisemore Campus, Littleton Street West, Walsall, WS2 8ES, www.walsallcollege.ac.uk), only a 5minute walk from The New Art Gallery Walsall.
To reserve your free place please call 01922 654400.
See you all there.
One of your favourite galleries!!
http://www.thenewartgallerywalsall.org.uk/whats-on/exhibition/party
Party on!
The New Art Gallery celebrated its 10th Birthday last night, and there was over 1000 visitors! The Party exhibition is on and is looking (and in the case of Martin Creed’s room filled with balloons) feeling great… so I really recommend a visit.
The Unwanted Gift Shop was open for business and record numbers visited the shop since its opening, and visitors were given free edible art (black and white jelly) and left smiling with art in their bellies. Some even came with more Unwanted Gifts, which have now been added to the shop display.
There is still time for more Unwanted Items… bring them along and register them at reception. You never know… your work might be worth £££ in years to come! :)
A big injustice….
Dear friends,
Thank you very much for joining us last night for the PARTY preview and the 10th birthday celebrations. It was a beautiful night with a great energy and atmosphere. The best way to celebrate our birthday.
Unfortunately, that special day a ‘journalist’ from London decided to try to spoil it for us by publishing at the Independent an ill informed, lazy piece of journalism, which we strongly believe does not reflect what The New Art Gallery Walsall stands for the visual arts world in Walsall, the Midlands, in the country and internationally, our contribution to the cultural life, our work with artists, our programme of exhibitions, the significance of our collections and the ways we engage with our visitors through education and audience development.
Please click below to read the article and if you do not agree with its arguments we would be more than grateful if you could leave a comment that truly reflects your own experiences of visiting, participating and working with The New Art Gallery Walsall and its staff.
Many thanks and best wishes
The New Art Gallery Walsall
Michael has just entered the building….
We just finished unwrapping Yang Mian’s bronze sculpture entitled “Dangerous” of Michael Jackson, part of the PARTY exhibition opening tommorow Thursday 11 February and we thought that we should share this exciting moment with you!!
Week 1 of the PARTY! exhibition installation
Some pics from week 1 of the PARTY! exhibition installation as promised. More to follow next week…..
Ken Ardley Playboys, Window Box, Party!
I am extremely excited about playing with the Ken Ardley Playboys at the Party! show next week. The Apathy Band and some of the Ken Ardley Playboys played in Pescara Italy just after we finished the window installation for the party show last week. The window installation is the largest and most involved art work we have made so far involving images and objects from the Garman Ryan Collection; see the video below. It is inspired by some very touching photo’s of Esther at a party she must have organized for Roland Joffe when he was six or seven in our version of the party at the Epstein House things have gone rather crazy and busts by Epstein have be festooned with silly string and streamers. I find the party photos very moving.
They are an insight into the personal lives of the Epstein’s. Because Kathleen does not appear in them I suspect they are her eye view of proceedings. Perhaps when people look through the portholes of the window box installation for a brief instant become Kathleen. Neil has made a wonderful job of representing our efforts so far in the Archive Gallery in the Garman Ryan Collection. He has edited the films we have made so far with ‘Pathe’ footage of Epstein. It makes for a very effective 45 minutes of film. Hales Gallery in London are interested in organizing a screening of the film. It’s always enjoyable working behind the scenes of the Gallery. Neil and I are very much involved with one aspect of the Gallery but as we were working last week I was amazed at what a cultural centre The New Art Gallery Walsall has become. During most week days the Gallery is filled with school kids. Unlike most middle aged gallery goers I don’t mind a few kids running about. When I was a student I lived in Italy. The use of museums in Italy as Educational tools is far more advanced. Because so much of what it means to be Italian resides within the museum they jam them with kids. The New Art Gallery Walsall is doing a great job of reflecting how culture is developing while showing where its roots are.
Happy Birthday. 10 years old this month.
The results are in…
The most watched Bob and Roberta Smith and the Epstein video so far is ‘Archiving with Bob and Roberta Smith’. With an eye-watering 500 views, this video has consistently outgunned the competition.
What does this mean for the museum and gallery community more generally? I think the answer is clear – the public want museums all over the country to destroy their collections. Perhaps their could be a competition to see which gallery can do this in the most imaginative way – fire the Tate Collection out of a cannon, submerge British Museum artefacts in liquid nitrogen and smash them with a toffee hammer, or strap the Magna Carta to the back of a wild stallion and film it careering into a swimming pool of ink.
The public have spoken.
Party exhibition installation shots
Here are some shots from the first two exciting installations we almost finished installing as part of the PARTY! exhibition in the gallery’s 3rd and 4th floor. David Batchelor’s Disco Mecanique and Colin Loew, Rody Thomson and Sarah Lucas’ The Yard Ape. We hope you will all join us next Thursday 11 February 4pm – 9pm for a preview of the exhibition and to celebrate our 10th birthday with us. More installation pics to follow soon.
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