Lisbon’s Monument to the Discoveries in 1940
One of the biggest symbols in Lisbon is the Monument to the Discoveries, a 52 m high tower which celebrates the Age of Discovery during the 15th and 16th centuries. Conceived in 1939 by the architect José Ângelo Cottinelli Telmo and the sculptor Leopoldo de Almeid, it was erected in 1940 for the Portuguese World Fair – an event which celebrated both the Foundation of the Portuguese State in 1140 and its Restoration of Independence in 1640.
The images above were takin roughly in 1940 and come from an amazing archive of photographs shared by the Biblioteca de Arte-Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian. They’re a wonderful record from the time and they give an idea of the fantastic scale in which these sculptures were made.
Yet, despite the impressive nature of the monument the structure was never intended to be a permanent construction. Originally built from gypsum on a wooden frame, the monument was designed to only be a temporary structure and soon after the Portuguese World Fair ended it was torn down.
It took fifteen years until work began on rebuilding the monument and the final version was completed in 1960. Bigger then the original, built in concrete and with sculptures carved from rare Portuguese Lioz Limestone, the new monument was unveiled to mark the 500th Anniversary of the death of Henry the Navigator. Today it still stands on the banks of the Tagus and allows for a fantastic view over the city of Libson from the viewing point at its top.
May Update – Greetings from Lisbon
As you may have gathered from some of the more recent posts on here I’m currently living in Lisbon. I’ve moved here for a few months for a number of reasons but mainly because I think it’s healthy to go and get a change of scene from time-to-time. For me, moving to Lisbon was a great idea – it’s one of those cities which is instantly likable, the weather is nearly always nice and the pace is really easy going.
While over here I’ve been taking things pretty easy but I’ve also been seeing if I can try and develop my work in a new direction. Hopefully I’ll have more news about that in the near future but for now I wanted to share a few updates about projects which I’ve been working on over the last few months.
‘Lily of the Valley’ is the title of the debut album from Funeral Suits – a band which I’ve been lucky enough to have worked with ever since their first EP almost four years ago. It has been great to watch this band grow and develop over the years and to finally see this album in the flesh is such a wonderful thing. I’m delighted to be able to work with such a great and talented group of individuals and the album that they’ve put together is truely special. Released on June 4th, it’s currently available for pre-order from their site. More images of the artwork will be on my website in the next few weeks.
Dublin’s Chester Beatty Library is one of my favourite places in the city and a museum which I’ve been lucky enough to have worked with over a number of years. Recently I collaborated with the Museum’s Education Services in producing new activity worksheets for visiting families (check them out here). During that time I also worked on developing a drawing pack that encourages adults and teens to draw while the visit the collection. The packs are being launched this Saturday (May 19th 2012) to coincide with Ireland’s National Drawing Day. More images of the drawing pack, as well as the family activity worksheets, are currently available to see on my website here.
Vietnam’s Infinite Cave – A Series by Carsten Peter
Yesterday I headed to the World Press Photo exhibition at the Museu da Electricidade in Lisbon. It’s an overwhelming and emotional exhibition full of incredible images that give a startling view of world events.
Veteran photographer and National Geographic grantee Carsten Peter was one of the exhibiting photographers. He had won second prize in the ‘Nature’ category for his amazing photos of Vietnam’s Son Doong Cave. Located in the Quảng Bình Province, the cave is more than 5 kilometers long, 200 meters high, and 150 meters wide – thus making it the world largest cave. It’s a staggering sight and the small images above really don’t do Peter’s photographs justice.
You can view a larger gallery of his images on the World Press Photo website or check out the talk below where Peter discusses his time in Vietnam at the National Geographic Society in Washington, DC.
The World Press Photo Exhibition runs at Lisbon’s Museu da Electricidade until the 20th of May 2012.
Continue reading Vietnam’s Infinite Cave – A Series by Carsten Peter…
Tell Them Anything You Want – A Portrait of Maurice Sendak
A couple of months ago I listened to a very moving interview with the children’s author Maurice Sendak. I normally don’t get too emotional over things like this but for some reason there was something so raw and heart-felt about Sendak’s musings on life, death and the loss of his friends that I couldn’t help but feel moved by his words. Sendak’s work hadn’t even played a role in my childhood, so I couldn’t pretend to blame my emotions on that – it was just his honesty and his willingness to be so open about life that I found so special.
Last night I discovered another series of interviews with Sendak in the form of the HBO documentary ‘Tell Them Anything You Want’. Started in 2003 and released in 2009, the film was made by Spike Jonze and Lance Bangs and was filmed while Jonze adapted Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are. Once more Sendak speaks honestly and candidly and reflects on his youth, his family, his thoughts on death and his career. It’s certainly a worthwhile watch and Sendak is such a wonderful curmudgeon. Go check it out above!
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Update May 9th 2012: Originally the full documentary was online but recently it was taken down. I’ve replaced it with an extract from the film above. If you get the chance make sure to check out the full thing. It’s available for purchase here.
RIP Maurice Sendak.
The Illustrations of Martin Jarrie
The other day I visited Lisbon’s Museu da Electricidade to see a retrospective exhibition of the work of French painter and illustrator Martin Jarrie. Since 1981, Jarrie has lived and worked in Paris and amongst his influences he lists the likes of surrealism, primitivism and contemporary art. His paintings are filled with texture and they have a real hand-crafted feel to them. I also love how he uses such a rich colour palette.
Over the years, Jarrie he has been the author of 30 books and the co-author of 12. In 1997 he won the Grand Prize at the The Biennial of Illustration in Bratislava for two of his books: Le Colosse Machinal and Toc, Toc, Monsieur Cric-Crac. More of his work can be seen on his official website here.
The exhibition runs at the Museu da Electricidade until 8 April
Old Photographs of Dublin
Over the last few months I have been casually collecting old photographs of Dublin. I’ve always been fascinated by old images of places that I know, and there’s no other place I know quite like Dublin. The other day on twitter I’d mentioned about my scrap-booking and the reaction was so good that I thought I’d share a link to it here.
Above are just three example which I’ve stumbled across online over the last few months. I think it’s really great to see people sharing this kind of history online, and it’s particularly great to see it coming from both individuals and institutions. To collect the photographs I’ve been using the excellent Gimme Bar, a wonderful tool that is simple to use and always gives a citation of where the images originally comes from.
You can view the ongoing collection here.
The Landscape Paintings of Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot
Yesterday I was at Dublin’s Hugh Lane Gallery in Parnell Square. Despite having visited the place countless times before, it was the first time that I stopped and properly looked at the paintings of French artist Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot. As I lent forward to admire the brush strokes I could imagine being kicked in the shins by the younger version of myself. ‘What are you doing looking at landscape paintings?’ he’d scoff in his childish and unbroken voice. I’d whimper and tell him to ‘shut-up and leave me alone’. After all, I had brushstrokes to be admiring.
The younger version of myself certainly had no patience for ‘boring paintings’. Like many, I’d found no pleasure in stuffy galleries, majestic views and dignified contemplation. I was confident that there was nothing interesting about paintings of landscapes. But then – just like pattern baldness, chamomile tea, and lower-back pain – I began to get it. I found myself in galleries being impressed by boring paintings. I’d stoke my chin and wonder how a French painter ended up in Rome. I’d wonder how his trip was financed; if his grand tour was just a bourgeois road trip filled with cafés, fine wine and bawdy gossip.
For me, these paintings were like snapshots from another time. Real objects, painted by men in waistcoats and bow-ties. Men who got aggravated by flies who landed in their paint. I began to properly realize that these weren’t just imagined places – these were real landscapes. Images from another time. Take a look at Corot’s fountain in Rome and then fast-forward to the same scene 185 years into the future. How about his painting of Marseille? Has the city changed that much?
I can’t imagine that this kind of time-travel would have impressed the younger me. Trying to tell the time is hard enough when you’re a kid, but trying to understand it is even harder. These days though I find it fascinating. I’ve also got a new found love for this generation of painters. Many of whom came from privileged backgrounds, and who loved nothing more then traveling through Europe, meeting new people and painting new scenes.
A quick read through Corot’s biography and you’ll discover a man who hated ‘regular work’. Once he had the chance to quit his job he did and through the financial support of his family, he spent most of his time simply admiring Italian women and painting. His days were probably spent simply wandering through beautiful rustic scenery and painting whatever he fancied. It seems like a great life. The older Corot got, the more successful he became too. In later life he earned so much through his work that his charity was near proverbial and his popularity with people grew-and-grew. Generally, Corot just seems like an all-round brilliant person, and as a painter his landscapes are simply beautiful. Perhaps, just don’t try and convince the younger version of myself that – he’d probably kick you in the shins.
‘Staircase-III’ (2010) by Do-Ho Suh
Last weekend I was in London visiting friends and I managed to take in a really quick visit to the Tate Modern. Fortunately luck seemed to be on my side and I arrived just in time for one of the galleries brilliant Art in Focus talks. These fifteen-minute talks are designed to give a short introduction to a specific work of art on display and each month the gallery picks a new piece to focus on. It’s a really great idea and it’s always nice to get a little more insight into a piece of work.
On my visit I got to hear from one of the curators about Staircase-III – a fantastic installation by the Korean sculptor Do-Ho Suh. It’s an instantly captivating piece and it really has a great presence in the gallery. Made specially for the room, the installation is a 1:1 scale reconstruction of the staircase that connects Do-Ho Suh’s apartment in New York to his landlords place downstairs. As it hangs over the room it creates an almost dreamlike space where ghostly red transparent fabric reveals everything and nothing about Do-Ho Suh’s apartment.
Make sure to check out the video above to learn more about the work.
The Prix Pictet 2011
Last night I headed along to the opening of the Prix Pictet at Dublin’s Gallery of Photography. Now in it’s third year, the exhibition of this international photography prize is quickly becoming one of my favourite highlights of the year. The competition’s mandate is “to use the power of photography to communicate vital messages to a global audience”, and after themes of ‘water’ and ‘earth’ (see last years post), this year’s exhibitions has taken ‘growth’ as it’s starting point. It’s a far more abstract theme and one which has led to rich exhibition, with photographers examining the duality of the word with a strong sense of both the beautiful and the brutal.
This year’s winner was Mitch Epstein who won the award back in March for his series entitled ‘American Power’. Other personal highlights of the show include Michael Wolf‘s haunting tower blocks of Hong Kong and Edward Burtynsky‘s images of the America’s transportation and motor culture.
The Prix Pictet runs from 3rd December 2011 – 15th of January 2012
Professor Munakata’s British Museum Adventure
Last weekend I took an overnight trip to London. While there I visited the British Museum where currently a small exhibition of the work of Japanese manga artist Hoshino Yukinobu is on display. Yukinobu is the creator of one of Japan’s most famous manga characters, Professor Munakata, and the exhibition features finished drawings, sketches and examples of the fude brush pens which Yukinobu uses.
Yukinobu first visited the British Museum back in 2009 and was so taken by the collection that he felt inspired to create a new Professor Munakata adventure set inside the Museum. Originally published in Japan over a period of five months, the British Museum Press has now published it as a complete book in English, and it’s available to purchase from their online shop here. It’s great to see the British Museum getting behind a project this fun and hopefully we’ll see more cultural crossovers in the future.
The exhibition opened September 29th 2011 and runs till April 9th 2012