True Faith

"My adult self is still swooning at the touching moments a week ago when, during 'Blue Monday', Bernard went over and played Gillian's (AKA the coolest unsung woman in music history - surely 'The Perfect Kiss' video proves this) keyboards with her. And when Bernard dedicated 'Waiting For The Sirens Call' to his son James. Hearing 'Love Vigilantes' and 'Age of Consent' at all. And when 'Temptation' was utterly transcendent and I remembered why, looking at the people on stage who have survived to be still up on stage, in the words of 'Here To Stay': "The hope I held inside/With you was kept alive" It was that kind of gig for me and New Order are that kind of band..."

Excerpt from my Guardian Online comment about New Order's Manchester Apollo gig in April. "I used to think that the day would never come..." But it did....

Manchester Apollo - the morning after...

Reason For Living

Somerset House - 11 December 2012

Somerset House - 'Tim Walker: Storyteller' Exhibition
11 December 2012

Waterloo Sunset - 11 December 2012

She Talks To Rainbows

Fly away home

"The Times They Are A-Changin'...."

Back To Biba 2

Museum for myself

"Somewhere...I know it exists"

All you need is...

and...

Photos taken at 'The Sixties' exhibition at York Castle Museum - 9th October 2012

She found 'Control'

"I wish I were a Warhol silk screen hanging on the wall.
Or little Joe or maybe Lou. I'd love to be them all.
All New York City's broken hearts and secrets would be mine.
I'd put you on a movie reel, and that would be just fine"

Sam Riley as Ian Curtis in 'Control'

From tiny saplings...

A postcard from myself a year ago - my 'Mr Hockney In Hull' blog post after visiting Cartwright Hall.  

Cartwright Hall

Three months ago, I was privileged enough to sneak a peek as 'Bigger Trees Near Warter' was being put up at Ferens, the day before the preview. A preview of the preview, if you will.  Mr Hockney's trees, and the gallery itself, began to cast a spell on me that day (but that's a whole other story...one that I hope has been told through my blog posts during the time 'Bigger Trees...' were in Hull). Last week, I was able to mark the end of our journey together by seeing all 50 panels individually encased in protective wooden boxes, waiting to be replanted where Mr Hockney himself began his own journey. And while I can't pretend it didn't make me a little (OK, a lot) emotional at the sight of the blank wall where the trees once grew, I was excited at the prospect of seeing them in their new environment.

Because the day after 'Bigger Trees...' closed to the public at Ferens, members of the Hockney Research Group headed to Cartwright Hall in Bradford, at their kind invitation, after a member of the group offered the branch of friendship (sorry, couldn't resist), offering to share our experiences, in the hope of benefiting their volunteer experience. The photo above is one I took on approaching the Hall, which we learned was a purpose-built gallery, which is situated in the beautiful Lister Park. Mr Hockney's trees won't be lonely, surrounded by so many of the real things! We were allowed to look around the room where the trees will thrive for 6 months, and my not very articulate, yet instinctive reaction was: "Oh. My. God." Then I got out my camera -  It was breathtaking - the high windows, domed roof and natural light promise to create a whole new set of effects upon the canvases. I was surprised to learn that Bradford would be showing the painting on a purpose built wall too, as we had been led to believe that the Ferens would be the only place where it would be displayed that way. But, excitingly, at Cartwright Hall, the curve of the wall will display 3 panels at each side, as opposed to the 2 at Ferens. This promises to create a whole new way of experiencing the trees.

The gallery was closed to the public on the day we visited, so we were treated to a private tour of the Hockney works in their collection: 'Bolton Junction, Eccleshill' (painted when Hockney was studying at Bradford School of Art, depicting a Bradford scene), 'Gordale Scar Yorkshire Jan', a selection of graphics inspired by Picasso, and, my personal favourite, 'Le Plongeur'. Approaching the room it was housed in, and being hit by the colours and ripple effects of the water, was really special. We were also shown works by David Oxtoby, who was at Bradford School of Art with Hockney. It was really interesting to have the links and contrasts between the two highlighted to us. Also on display, and of personal interest to me, were a Warhol 'Marilyn', a Lichtenstein and a Lowry, among many others. We were also given a peek at the 'Other Trees' exhibition, which was being hung, which will accompany 'Bigger Trees...'. The gallery describes how "on display will be artworks in a range of media including 'The Lemon Tree' by Henry Scott Tuke painted en plein air; a life-size Kadam Tree woven from wicker as well as Art Nouveau furniture by Christopher Pratt of Bradford and carved wooden birds."

It was lovely to share our volunteer experiences with the staff at Cartwright Hall - it really brought home to me what an amazing experience it had been (and take my mind off the trees' imminent departure), and the feedback we received indicated that the spell the trees cast at the Ferens was already rubbing off on their next, and final, audience. As we drove past Bradford Grammar School, down the road from Cartwright Hall, it felt entirely fitting to make the link between where Mr Hockney began, as a sapling, and the recent work where we can see what he grew up to become - a mighty sycamore. I returned to Hull, to a blazing orange sunset over the Ferens, knowing the trees were still inside. Our journey together was almost over. It was time to begin new ones. The pieces are still the same. But from now on they will look slightly different.

Preparing to leave the forest

As the leaves start falling from the trees and the park closes earlier, I'm reflecting on the melancholy of a year ago, when 'Bigger Trees Near Warter' had had its final week on public view at the Ferens. Here are my 'Mr Hockney In Hull' blog posts from that week reprinted...

'25 Trees between Bridlington School and Morrison's supermarket along Bessingby Road in the Semi-Egyptian style'.

For anyone who, like me, is feeling a bit melancholy about 'Bigger Trees Near Warter' being uprooted from the Ferens after 18th September before being replanted in Bradford in October, news of a new exhibition opening on 14th September at Salts Mill, Saltaire, will hopefully cheer you up. Martin Wainwright writes on The Northerner blog that '25 Trees and Other Pictures by David Hockney', is "a preview of Hockney's vast Royal Academy tribute" (which opens in January 2012) which also "celebrates the 'extraordinary ordinary'" and also features "previously unseen portraits of Yorkshire friends and scores of the artist's iPad paintings which are not going to London". The exhibition will also feature a triptych with the above, unmistakably Hockneyesque title, each picture measuring 27 feet long, depicting the scene in summer, autumn and winter. It will be very interesting to see how it compares to the triptych arrangement of 'Bigger Trees..' at the Ferens. And with a title like that, it must surely be easier to find those 25 trees than the ones near Warter.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/the-northerner/2011/sep/08/david-hockney-salt-s-mill-jonathan-silver-saltaire-bradford-bridlington-royal-academy?intcmp=239

http://www.saltsmill.org.uk/new_exhibitions.php

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/sep/07/david-hockney-film-exhibition-royal-academy?intcmp=239

Force of Nature

Reading the BBC news website this morning provided conclusive proof, not that it's needed, of just what a remarkable man Mr Hockney is. In the last week, he has given a press conference announcing a new Royal Academy show for 2012, casually revealed that he turned down an offer to paint the Queen because he "was very busy painting England actually. Her country.", while today '25 Trees and Other Pictures by David Hockney', featuring that breathtaking new triptych (follow the link below to see pictures and a short film) opened at Salts Mill, Saltaire. As if that's not enough, today the BBC reported that "The artist David Hockney has warned road labourers in his home town of Bridlington in Yorkshire that they are digging up one of his main sources of inspiration and a piece of art history. Hockney has taken roadwork managers to his studio to show them new paintings of Woldgate, an unspoilt country lane, and tell them not to do lasting damage...John O'Grady, communications manager for Northern Gas Networks, said he was  "gobsmacked to be invited to the artist's studio to get a preview of works that will be on show at the Royal Academy, and to be given lunch at Hockney's home". Maybe Mr O'Grady has never heard the phrase 'keep your friends close and your enemies closer'. Not only does Mr Hockney tirelessly depict and campaign for forces of nature, he continually proves to be one himself.

* Richard Hamilton, considered the founder of Pop Art, died yesterday, aged 89. He taught and influenced David Hockney and Peter Blake, and you can link to his obituaries through the link below too.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/search/david_hockney

All roads lead back to Mr Hockney

Having just left Ferens after my penultimate 'Bigger Trees..'  invigilation stint, I finally got round to buying this month's 'Harper's Bazaar' magazine. I bought it on the strength of the 'Alexa Chung meets Marianne Faithfull'  coverline, and articles on Lucien Freud and Jenny Saville (plus a gorgeous Tracey Emin neon artwork illustrating a Jeanette Winterson story). So plenty to make it worth buying. It was only when I began reading the Alexa Chung article that I discovered an even more exciting reason, by chance - the photos accompanying the article were shot in David Hockney's 1960s Notting Hill flat! As Stephanie Rafanelli writes "it was here that Hockney lived and worked in his 'Young Contemporaries' days (the 1961 RBA Galleries exhibition alongside Peter Blake that marked the beginnings of British Pop Art), and where Andy Warhol later attended the artist's notorious Saturday tea parties, filming the Swinging London scene". To see the place (still intact) where things I wrote about on this blog happened was yet another thrilling insight into Mr Hockney's world.

Later that evening, I was checking my emails, and had another one - via Artist and Illustrators magazine's monthly email.  It linked to Editor Steve Pill's blog post about the press conference for next year's Royal Academy show. It's well worth reading (follow the link below), and I especially loved this observation: "in some special cases being creative isn't something that you can turn on and off, it's an unstoppable torrent that pours out at all times." Quite. The magazine will be running a full report and interview in its November issue.

http://artistsandillustratorsmag.blogspot.com/2011/09/david-hockney-show.html?utm_medium=email&utm_source=The+Chelsea+Magaz

London Conversation

Four years ago I went to the Forever Heavenly Weekend at London's Southbank Centre. Saint Etienne headlined the final night and had just released the greatest hits compilation 'London Conversations'. To promote the album, the band set up a website of the same name and asked people to submit their own London Conversation. Here's mine...


I travelled to London from the North.

The nights were spent thrilling to the music, which left the days free to explore the metropolis. I found myself marvelling up at the Gherkin, the Lloyds tower and the Stock Exchange and although it was a Saturday and the City boys were on hiatus, I was disturbed by how all the shops and bars were closed.

Apart from a few other tourists, I virtually had the place to myself.

I had deliberately chosen to avoid the craven consumerism of Oxford Street, but this was ridiculous - more like '28 Days Later', but without the zombies and bloodshed.

As I made for the Tube, I concluded that it must usually be like this or that everyone was at Boris's Thames shindig.

The next night I returned from Saint Etienne's triumphant, security-baiting Heavenly weekend closer, and turned on the TV, to news of Lehmann Brothers' collapse.

By the next morning, I saw the City Boys had turned into zombies and it was their blood being shed. It didn't surprise me at all.

22 September 2008

Nature Girl

Holderness House, Hull - Heritage Open Day

9 September 2012

"There was a boy

A very strange enchanted boy..."

'Nature Boy'

David Bowie

Holderness House - Heritage Open Day
9 September 2012

"We dream in colour
Others they colour their dreams
Takes one to know one
The spirit always knows when it sees"

'Ghost On The Canvas'
 Glen Campbell

Freedom (Or 'Spread Your Wings')

Barbican, London: 10 September 2010

Humber Bridge: 8 September 2012

(View from Holy Trinity Church roof on Heritage Open Day)

"What you thought you'd lost

was just mislaid

all the poems written in your skin"

'Some People'  

Goldfrapp

Freedom Festival, Hull: 8 September 2012
(From Holy Trinity Church roof on Heritage Open Day)

Tidal Barrier and The Deep, Hull: 8 September 2012
(From Holy Trinity Church roof ) 

'Salvation' (or 'We Die and See Beauty Reign')

'Dig The City' flower festival at Manchester Cathedral - 29th July 2012

'Madam Butterfly'

'Swan Lake'

Kindred Spirits

"One of the great things about a collective is that your world can expand through shared ideas and especially by new ideas, new sources and information...the possibility of discovering new ideas, new sources of inspiration, and much like the far reaching branches of Mr Hockney's Trees, all the links and connecting lines spread out before you"

NM on the Hockney Volunteers Group on 'Mr Hockney In Hull' blog (July 2011)

3 months ago at the Warhol Preview at Ferens Art Gallery, I spoke to NM about how back last Summer when we shared our enthusiasm for Celia Birtwell, Ossie Clark and 60s fashion in general, I would never have imagined that enthusiasm would lead to me sharing that enthusiasm with the public through 'The Times They Were A Changin'' exhibition (40,000 visitors and counting). Although Birtwell & Clark are not mentioned in the exhibition (my text about them was sadly cut from the fashion text panel due to space restrictions), anyone visiting the exhibition may be interested in discovering how their relationships with Hockney influenced his art and life. I certainly credit NM's encouragement to write about them for the Mr Hockney In Hull blog and sharing our enthusiasm with giving me the confidence to keep writing and start my own blog. I've re-printed my original Mr Hockney Birtwell posts below, and hope our friendship lasts as long as theirs has...


When Celia Met David

b

Celia Birtwell was interviewed in 'Lula' Magazine by Celestine Cooney and was asked:

How did you meet David Hockney? Why do you think you ended up being the subject of many of his paintings?

"I met David in 1968 through a friend Peter Schlesinger. David was a Yorkshire lad, I was a Lancashire lady and we just clicked. I think we had similar family backgrounds, they were both quite eccentric. I find him very intelligent and very funny, I think he finds me funny too, so there is a mutual understanding."

"Uuh nuuh luvvie..."

                                          

        

There is a great interview with Celia Birtwell on the Telegraph website. As well as describing her hilarious impression of David Hockney (that's where the title's from!), it reveals that she introduced him to technology in the first place, so we have her to thank, indirectly, for all the art he's produced via his iPhone/iPad (including the initial plans for 'Bigger Trees Near Warter')! The fabric to Celia's left (and our right) in the photo accompanying the interview was designed by Hockney for Birtwell's new fabric collection. There is a great picture on the Decorex website of curtains made from the fabric, as well as the other fabrics in the collection. How fantastic would the curtains draped across the entrance and exit to ''Bigger Trees Near Warter' at the Ferens have looked in Hockney's 'Grand Punchinellas' fabric?!

http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/columns/kate-finnigan/TMG8701919/Celia-Birtwell-Ossie-was-deeply-ambitious.-Then-he-got-ridiculous....html

http://www.decorex.com/page.cfm/Action=Exhib/ExhibID=171/loadSearch=41230_1597

NM commented: Oh CM, it would indeed have been great to have the fabric for the Ferens! The above cushion (Punchinellas & Milson Ticking Square Cushion) in Mr. Hockney's fabric can be purchased here http://www.celiabirtwell.com/products-page/?product_search=david+hockney 

Still In Vogue after 26 years

After subscribing for 13 years, it's still exciting to hear a new issue of 'Vogue' thud through the letterbox. And even more exciting still to see an article in the contents on this blog's inspiration, and the woman who has been written about most on this blog too, the equally inspirational Celia Birtwell. I've loved digging out my old issues to re-read articles for the purposes of this blog, as well as discovering NM is a fellow Vogue hoarder and discussing them with her. And, for the first time, be right in sync with' Vogue'! And while we curse ourselves for not buying that iconic Celia cover 1985 Paris Vogue (I'd only recently stopped reading 'Twinkle' magazine back then, and it did become a collectors' item after only 3 months.' Vogue', not Twinkle), the fact that both Hockney and Birtwell are still in 'Vogue' and the closest of friends after all these years speaks volumes about them both as artists and friends.

While I'll try not to spoil it for you, and would encourage you to go out and buy Christopher Simon Sykes' book (which the article was about) yourself, I will say that I was delighted to discover new insights about Hockney and Birtwell's enduring relationship. Not least that they were friends with the other's partner (Birtwell was friends with Peter Schlesinger and Hockney with Ossie Clark), rather than each other initially and yet it is their subsequent friendship which has survived. Christopher Simon Sykes quotes Hockney saying that "(Celia)  is very, very sympathetic and she knows how to make me laugh. She plays with words, which I like, and she has a sense of the absurd. We got very close and I suppose I was in love with her". Simon Sykes observes that "Her gentle feminine side strongly appealed to Hockney...As they comforted each other, he began to transfer the feelings he had for Peter on to her." Of Hockney, Birtwell says "I think he found we spoke the same language about his unhappiness and broken heart, so he used me as his confidante...He's been very supportive, encouraging me to be brave and show my talent. We have a really good friendship..I like my relationship with him. He makes me laugh and he thinks I'm quite funny. So that's good." While the article never makes clear the exact nature of their relationship when Hockney was imortalising her in his art most prolifically (and it's none of our business anyway), it is fascinating and deeply inspiring to observe how two visionary, iconic working class northerners who dreamed of bigger things went on to influence the worlds of art and fashion and each other, continuing to this day.

(NM commented: I have one question, Twinkle Magazine? Its a new one on me, it was all Bunty and The Four Maries when I was a kid!)

'The Manchester Man'

"Mutability is the epitaph of worlds
Change alone is changeless
People drop out of the history of a life as of a land
though their work or their influence remains"

'The Manchester Man'
G Linneaus Banks 1876

"The Times They Were A Changin'"

They certainly were....

"ART IS WHAT YOU CAN GET AWAY WITH" Andy Warhol

Salford Quays, on the way to The Lowry (note swans)

Exactly a year ago, I visited 'Warhol and The Diva' The Lowry in Manchester. Back then, I'd only just started volunteering at the museums but knew there was a Warhol exhibition coming up (I soon learned it would open on my birthday this year, which seemed serendipitous as I'd 1st volunteered on my birthday last year). Fast forward a year and I'm invigilating the Ferens Warhol exhibition...A year ago I was writing about the links between Warhol and Hockney, and now visitors can see both at the Ferens. As I wander through the gallery, I'm struck by how privileged we are to be able to see those links for ourselves.

On my Lowry visit, I remember speaking to one of the front of house staff about Warhol and Lowry and mentioning where I was visiting from, and she said she wanted to visit Hull as it had nice buildings. I left Manchester with a new determination to get more involved with the museums, which led me to my third museum job interview, today. Whatever the outcome, I credit experiences   

such as this one (I'd have many more with museum staff in other cities as well as my own) with fuelling my determination, and marvel at my progress. When you're volunteering in a gallery in your home city, can see Warhol's Marilyn and Liz out of the corner of your eye, can hear 'Blue Monday' and 'Just Like Honey' playing, and can then wander into another gallery to see Hockney and Blake accompanying your own magazines, make-up and words...then you can't help but smile at the quote emblazoned in big letters on the wall "Art is what you can get away with" (which I bought a postcard of a year ago at The Lowy). A year on, I'm still getting away with it...

Debbie Harry by Andy Warhol

David Hockney by Andy Warhol

David Hockney & Andy Warhol

Back To Biba

Abingdon Road shop today

On 16th June, a very special event took place at Ferens Art Gallery, which had its seeds in a conversation way back last Autumn, when I took the above photo, on a pilgrimage to all of the former Biba store sites. I was talking about it to the Volunteer Co-ordinator at the museums, who vividly recalled his own in Biba's heyday. He told me how one of the museums' education enablers had worked for Biba creator Barbara Hulanicki, and I was very keen to hear her stories. So when, entirely serendipitously, 'The Times They Were A Changin'' gave me the perfect opportunity to share my own enthusiasm for Biba with the public (more of which soon), it also presented the perfect opportunity for Ronnie to share her memories of 'Working With Barbara Hulanicki'.

I met with Ronnie to look around 'The Times They Were A Changin'' while she reminisced about working with Barbara and moving to London from Scotland, aged 16, and listened in awe as she described what it was like to live in the capital in the 1970s, a time that saw such exciting cultural change. She described following some punks because she's never seen anyone who looked like that before, and of going to parties where celebrities and high society rubbed shoulders with the penniless but talented - the beginning of a meritocracy where everyone became equal if they were talented, regardless of who they were and where they came from. 

It was an unforgettable experience to clutch my 'Big Biba' book as Ronnie made the people and places in it come alive once more. Standing alongside the 'Fashion Kiosk' with my Biba makeup in, watching as people read the labels I'd written and looked at the display, I suddenly saw for myself that hope to share my Biba enthusiasm with others had come true. Ronnie's talk would bring that era and its ideals alive once more.

Several days before, I had collected a Biba jacket that Lisa at Dove House Hospice charity shop had put aside for me to borrow, to wear at the talk. I had visited the store a couple of months earlier with the museums costume curator, and we had passed an enjoyable afternoon looking at vintage clothes to select for display in the exhibition. I had tried on the jacket and it fitted perfectly! Lisa showed me the note that had been put in the bag with the jacket when it was left at the shop: "Original Biba bought 1969. I was going to put it on Ebay but haven't got around to it". We marvelled at the generosity of someone who knew it was valuable but wanted Dove House to benefit instead.

I created a poster to promote the talk and distributed the flyer also available at Ferens. Everything was prepared for the day, but we were all nervous about whether anyone would turn up! A few minutes before, I put on the Biba jacket and walked around the gallery letting people know it was happening. I had watched Ronnie's rehearsal, and it was an emotional experience for me, seeing my own memories and enthusiasms come to alive to share with the public. The gallery wasn't very busy, but then shortly before, people began to file through the doors leading to the Live Arts Space. I smiled at one of them, and she smiled back and pointed at me, saying "I got married in that jacket!". It was the lady who donated the jacket! It felt like alchemy, and then I knew it would all turn out OK...

And it did. Around 30 people sat and listened as Ronnie told the Biba story and shared her memories of working for Barbara Hulanicki. The creative vision and ideals of this visionary woman came alive once more in the Ferens that afternoon. I even (reluctantly I admit) went up and 'modelled' the jacket and displayed/talked about Barbara's recent collaborations with Topshop and George, illustrating her continued relevance and influence. What I found so fascinating was how many of the audience members remembered Biba themselves and had their own memories to share. The 'Dove House Jacket Lady' spoke of getting married in the jacket and buying from the catalogues (which she still has and has offered to loan for the September talk), and it turns out she is the best friend of the lady who loaned the Campbell's Soup dress in the exhibition! Alchemy indeed...

Lots of people had questions for Ronnie, which was a great measure of the talk's success, and afterwards I had some lovely conversations with people about Biba and 1960s fashion, and also had requests to touch the jacket I was wearing, which I was more than happy to comply with - my own 15 minutes of fame! I had several offers of dress loans which I'm hoping to work into the September event. It was so exciting for me to hear the personal stories of women who were there, for the learning process to work both ways. Speaking to Lisa from Dove House afterwards, after speaking to the lady who donated the jacket, she said how unusual it is to meet the people who donate items. I mentioned how, growing up, I didn't know anyone else interested in Biba, so it was an amazing feeling to bring a group of people together who proved there are other people out there in Hull interested in Biba too!

The talk was also a great way of promoting 'The Times They Were A Changin'' and people approached me to say how much they enjoyed it too. I will write a separate post about this exhibition soon - I've delayed doing so as I'm still pretty dazzled by how it feels to realise my dream of sharing my enthusiasms with the outside world and finding a home for them, and myself. My Museum For Myself. But that afternoon I was reminded of how inspiring it felt to have visited Abingdon Road and the tiny shop where Barbara Hulanicki and her husband Stephen Fitz-Simon began to share their creative vision, and how, by sharing their vision with the public at Ferens, I hope I've realised my own version of that. In the spirit of Big Biba, encouraged by the public's enthusiasm, the talk on 15 September will be even more ambitious...

Special thanks to NM and Lisa and Deborah at Newland Avenue Dove House Charity shop. A Dove House vintage & retro shop opened today across the road, if you're curious about curios!

"Nature Never Lets You Down"

Warter, June 2011
Photos by NM

Exactly a year ago, I woke up excited to be doing my first session invigilating 'Bigger Trees Near Warter' at Ferens Art Gallery that afternoon. I didn't expect instead to find myself standing in front of the actual trees themselves, right where Hockney painted them. Searching for the photo NM took that magical afternoon also reminded me of the conversation we'd had before setting off, where we both discovered a mutual love of Celia Birtwell, Ossie Clark and 60s fashion in general, when I mentioned the Tommy Nutter exhibition I'd just visited. She encouraged me to write about it for the 'Mr Hockney In Hull' blog she'd just set up, as "a record and celebration" of our experiences while the painting was in Hull.  

That day remains vivid in my memory for both of those reasons. To personally experience the place Hockney painted was not only not only an unforgettable experience in itself, it greatly enhanced my experience of the painting when I returned. Hockney painted the scene much earlier in the season, when the daffodils were hinting at what we could now see, but his eyes saw only bare branches. But the trees in full leaf were not the only difference - the roofs of the house and greenhouse in the painting were not brightly coloured in real life, unsurprisingly! And Hockney added in other details not readily apparent ...reminding me of his remark "we see with memory". 

I found it fascinating to subsequently discuss Warter with visitors to the Ferens (not least to dispel the myth that the trees had been cut down - Rose Horspool, our obliging guide to Warter and guardian of the beautiful visitor centre, a converted English Heritage listed church, took us to the trees that had been cut down, to prove it), describing what I had experienced and how it compared to the painting. Some people had already been and seemed disappointed or dismayed at how Hockney's vision deviated from the 'real' thing. But that, to me, was the big revelation, and a great lesson in the value of your own personal interpretation of art.  As Hockney knows, 'seeing with memory' means there's no objective, correct interpretation of anything.  'Hockney's Warter' and 'My Warter' - and yours - will be different. And that's what makes it so special.

As Richard Hawley puts it so eloquently in 'Tonight The Streets Are Ours': "Don't let fear of feeling fool you/What you see sets you apart". At the Warhol preview at Ferens 4 weeks ago, NM and I marvelled at how we'd never imagined how talking about Celia, Ossie, Tommy Nutter and 60s fashion would lead to my involvement in 'The Times They Were A Changin': Inspired By Warhol' exhibition, also being viewed that evening. On the eve of my birthday, having walked in to my 1st Hockney Volunteer meeting on my birthday itself, it was the perfect ending to an unforgettable 365 days, including that trip to Warter just weeks later. I credit the conversations and encouragement to write for the blog and pursue the Artlink Cartwheels course from NM and days like the trip to Warter with helping me get to that amazing Warhol preview evening, where NM told me I 'belonged' there. That meant so much to hear that from her, not least because as the eternal outsider, a year and 1 week ago today, I had just had a sneak preview of 'Bigger Trees' in Ferens and felt exactly the same thing. To slightly misquote NM in her inaugural 'Mr Hockney In Hull' post, special relationships were indeed developing...

Tommy Nutter and David Hockney: Velvet Revolutionaries

A year ago I visited the Tommy Nutter exhibition at the Fashion and Textile Museum in London, and wanted to post my original blog post here too - not just to remind myself of the serendipitous 'Hockney moment', but also because of another moment of serendipity. The 'Inspired By Warhol' exhibition at Ferens Art Gallery explores fashion during Nutter's heyday - in fact, I wrote about him on a men's fashion text label. Unfortunately he didn't make the final edit, but his influence on the era is clearly visible, as is that of Hockney's close friends Celia Birtwell and Ossie Clark. Just as Hockney attracted me into Ferens in the first place, it's come full circle with 1960/70s fashion following me! 

'Tommy Nutter: Rebel On The Row', Fashion and Textile Museum, London (www.ftmlondon.org)

I had just started walking around this exhibition when suddenly I heard someone say "David Hockney!". I was puzzled and intrigued by the curious co-incidence, as I had sent an email enquiring about the Hockney Volunteer Project before leaving for London.

It should have been obvious really. I was standing looking at the work of maverick 1960s tailor Tommy Nutter. As the exhibition programme describes, he was "a designer whose vision carved an original style from the traditions of bespoke tailoring; a style that reflected the heady and liberating spirit of the times". On display were suits of tweed, check, velvet and satin "all referencing the silver screen idols and styles of the 1930s".

The source of the Hockney remark was soon revealed - safely under glass, an original order book, listing Nutter's customers and what they had ordered from him (and what it cost and if they'd paid or not!). Among orders for Elton John and Mick Jagger was an order for a velvet suit - jacket, trousers and waistcoat - for a certain Mr Hockney (I think he'd paid, but can't remember how much). Sadly, this particular suit wasn't on display (I wonder if he still has it? Or wears it?!), but stage costumes for Elton John and The Rolling Stones were, and it's easy to see why Nutter's designs appealed to Hockney.

"(David Hockney) was a major cultural symbol of 60s London - of a new confidence, a generation that was overturning everything" Chrissie Illes, curator at Whitney Museum of American Art, notes ('David Hockney's Long Road Home' by Carol Kino, New York Times, October 15 2009). Close friends with Ossie Clark and Celia Birtwell, who he also depicted in his art, it is easy to imagine how he and his contemporaries, such as Nutter, all influenced each other.

One look at the photos on The Selvedge Yard blog post link shows how much David Hockney has always enjoyed dressing up - the way he knowingly and playfully poses for the camera lens shows how he understands how to be the subject as well as the artist. Perhaps to him, the body is another canvas, another medium of expression.

He still cuts a dash today, attending the 'Bigger Trees Near Warter' preview at the Ferens in a striking ensemble, complete with hat and scarf. A 2006 Vogue interview was accompanied by a brilliant portrait by Christopher Simon Sykes of Hockney beside the beach huts at South Beach in Bridlington. He is wearing a checked suit, pink shirt, lilac scarf and white cap (with his ever-present signature accessory of cigarette in hand). He has always appeared to be fascinated by and revel in aesthetic pleasure, wherever he finds it, which makes him truly inspirational. As the 'Un Homme Un Style' blog post points out, that the Spring 2012 Galliano Menswear collection is a homage to Hockney's 'A Bigger Splash' and his personal style is proof of that, and that fashion and art still influence each other even today.

(Celia Birtwell posts to follow)

I want a Warhol for my birthday....

And that's exactly what I'll get - many of them in fact. Well, not just me, but everyone who visits Ferens Art Gallery on 2 June, which is my birthday! That's when 'Andy Warhol: Artist Rooms' opens (until 13 January 2013). I visited the current Warhol exhibition at The Graves Gallery in Sheffield recently, which had some of the self portraits also shown at The Lowry in Manchester's exhibition ('Warhol and the Diva'), which I visited and wrote about last year for 'Mr Hockney In Hull'. As the Ferens prepares to go Pop, I thought it would be an ideal time to revisit it. It's interesting to think how back then I didn't know the Ferens would be welcoming Warhol, and the thought of Warhol and Hockney's work both on display in the gallery is truly exciting.




"Art is what you can get away with" - Andy Warhol

After walking around rooms of Lowry's mill scenes and seascapes, it's quite a shock to suddenly find myself surrounded by Hollywood glamour. But then Warhol himself, having grown up poor in a mining town, knew only too well the impact of divas such as Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor in bringing that glamour to the everyday. 

On the surface (where Warhol appeared happiest), there is little in this show that's new. Warhol was interested in celebrating the banality of the everyday. What this exhibition does do is explore Warhol's own fascination with the women he made into art. There are startling photos and film footage of him in women's clothes, wig and make-up, appearing to emulate Marilyn Monroe. In a room painted gold and hot pink, filled with Warhol's Marilyns and a chandelier reflecting in the glass, it's a pretty powerful impression. 

There are also photographs of Warhol with many of his artistic subjects, such as Elizabeth Taylor and Debbie Harry. What is striking is how comfortable they look in his presence, regarding him as a fellow star, while he retains the awkward pose of the impoverished starstruck kid, always the detached outsider.

Given David Hockney's association with Warhol, I was interested in what common ground their art appears to share. In a New York Times article ('David Hockney's Long road Home') by Carol Kino (October 15, 2009), Chrissie Iles, curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art is quoted as saying "(Hockney) took the very English preoccupation with portraiture and turned it upside down by eroticizing it". Warhol arguably does something similar but in a very American way. There's also the bright colours of Warhol's divas and Hockney's pool paintings, and the fascination with famous, glamorous people in society. But while Hockney developed friendships with many of his subjects, or depicted those he already knew, Warhol always retained a starstruck distance.

One of the most interesting things about this exhibition is how it displays the original Polaroids of many of Warhol's original subjects (although, significantly, he never met Monroe - the ultimate unattainable star), letting you see how his portraits compare. Seeing Liza Minnelli and Debbie Harry as their natural, yet obviously glamorous selves, then as exaggerated colour-saturated works of art was fascinating.

Watching 'This Green and Pleasant Land', a BBC4 documentary about the history of landscape painting reminded me of David Hockney's fascination with new technology. The programme discussed his use of the iPad in creating art, which he regularly sends to his friends (lucky friends), and whether this is a revolutionary way of making art, or if it threatens to destroy it, by removing the idea of the original. You can only imagine what Warhol himself would also be doing with the technology we have today, if he were still alive.