London

28-29th Sept. '05.
Visited the London Aquarium, as the Saatchi gallery (and my main reason for being in London) had been closed down. It ended up working out well. I needed a bit of a break from the heavily loaded art that I have been looking at recently. Going to see something that feels so much simpler is a nice reminder to stop and smell the roses every now and then. Also went to a bookstore (sounds mundane, but its something I miss) and spent time catching up with a friend.

Ravenna

Another Art history class with Peter. We're looking at Byzantine art now, so Ravenna was the perfect place to go for the day.
Ravenna became the capital of the Western Roman Empire under Honorious in 402; and in 540 under the Byzantines. Today, Ravenna contains a fascinating historical and artistic heritage with the richest and best preserved testimony of early Christian and Byzantine art.
We visited a number of baptisteries and churches including San Vitale (526-547 A.D). The church has an octoganal core and domed centre, a great example of earlier Byzantine architecture. We also visited Dante Alighieris resting place, and a nearby Francescan church with a beautiful underwater crypt.

Back in Florence

Took a walk early this morning before heading to the studio.
Seen here are Piazza della Signoria, Plazzo Vecchio, Ponte Vecchio, and outside the Uffizi gallery.

Biennale: Swansong performance piece

Performing death in "Schwanengesang" by Bennedict Carpenter, House of O'Dwyer, Damien Roach and Wolfgang Tillmans in the Arsenale. This piece changes the artist/viewer subject/object relation and visual and aural disruption. It also references art genres of still life, nature morte, the vanitas portrait and the death mask. A memento morte.
There is a bright light in my face that gives the illusion of 'seeing the light' during the performance. Ave Maria is playing in the background, and the smell of lillies fills the room.
Many people came right up to me unsure if I was real or not; it was interesting watching the documentation of this later.
Webcast from the Biennale October 6th.

Venice

Bella Italia.
Gondolas and the Grand Canal.
Visited Piazza San Marco, and stood in awe of the ceiling of the Basilica (1094) mosaiced in gold, glass and marble. It houses the body of St. Mark, stolen from Egypt in 829 and four bronze horses taken from Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade.
I was also in Venice during the Lucian Freud retrospective show. You could smell the still wet oil paint in the last few rooms of the now 80 year old figurative artist. Amazing work, and wonderful colour palette in his later paintings.

Venice Biennale - Giardini

07th Sept, 2005.
These are some of my favourite works in the Giardini. Gilbert and George, in the British pavillion. The Hungarian artists mannequin installations that spoke of time and vulnerability were moving and effectively situated within the space. Lopez's site specific works were beautiful, and hurt to walk on/through. The French pavillion with artist Annette Messager won (shown here is room 2, filled with billowing red silk as a comment on life and mortality).

Venice Biennale - Arsenale: "Always A Little Further"

6th Sept, 2005.
17,000 square metres full of contemporary art. This year things seem to have more to do with identity politics, and the grandeur of the artwork. Some pieces are often not tangible, the emphasis is on conceptual work, video art and installation.
Shown are works by the Guerilla Girls and Mariko Mori.
Mori's communication dome included a psychadelic video projected in its interior. That's Linda, Lindsay and myself just before entering.

Elba

30th Sept. 2005
A group of us spent theday in Elba, an island just west of Tuscany.
I hated myself for getting up to make a 5am train to the port, but it ended up being a really nice, sunny day. We made a stop at Portoferraio and then went on to Porto Azzuro. The Mediterranean vegetation, warm colours and architectural details in the little towns on the island were beautiful. We took a bus to Mount Calamita, the highest point on the island, and trecked down to a little beach on the north coast. The view was incredible.
Elba is rich in spices and minerals and has many caves and old mines. It was also the home of Napoleon Bonaparte during his exile in 1814.

Piazza della Republica

Piazza della Republica is just north of my apartment here in Florence, and one of my favourite places to go and relax, have some tea and read or draw. Great for people watching. There's always something going on, lots of performance arts and live music, and there are always artists and artisians lining the streets with interesting work.

Piero della Francesca

24th Sept. 2005.
I have now oficially seen every known work by this artist with the exception of the Montefeltro Alterpiece in Milan.
Our history class this weekend took us on a windy tour of Piero della Francescas haunts through Tuscany to Arezzo, and Umbra, and to his place of birth, Sansepolcro. It was amazing seeing all of his works untouched, in their original sites (unlike those in the Louvre in Paris, and the National Gallery in London).
We saw one of his frescoes of the virgin Mary in the quiet little hillside town of Monterchi. They are now fighting the state to keep her.
The ceilings of San Francesco cathedral in Arezzo were breathtaking as they chronicled the story of the golden legend of the tree of mercy and the holy cross.
In Sansepolcro we saw the Resurrection and Polyptych of Misericordia.
Piero della Francesca (1420-92).
Pics- Virgin in Monterchi; and my studio-mate Linda, and myself.

Museo Zoologica La Specola

La Specola houses a huge collection of zoological and anatomical specimens. The school and museum was opened by none other than the Medici family in the mid-16th century. This was such an interesting site to visit with 34 of its rooms devoted to human specimens. I was more partial to the collection of bones and shells and their direct relation to the golden section, something I've been exploring in art and and its application to nature since I've been here.

San Miniato al Monte

Art history 'class', week 2.
We went to this Benedictine monestory in the hills overlooking Florence. The facade is decorated with green Prato and white Carra marble inlays that emphasize the Romanesque architecture. The interior was added onto up until the Baroque period, thus its columns and capitals vary in origin. The chapel contains frescoes and marble inlayed floors from the 13th and 14th century. Monks of the Benedictine order built their monasteries away from the cities, up on the hillsides to be closer to God -- I say they did it for the view.

Lucca

Spent the day in Lucca for another art history 'class.'
The origins of this little town in northern Tuscany date back to 180 BC. It was a beautiful place that had maintained most of its original architecture. There were piazzas and churches on every street, and gorgeous mosaic facades and frescoes.

Studio

My studio the day I moved into via Nazionale.
Doesn't look like that anymore.. lots of work lining the walls, and paint and acrylic medium on the ground.

First few days in Italy

Ponte Vecchio and Santa Maria del Fiore.

Art history, week 1.

Art history in Santo Spirito and the antique market.