lisbonandmagic

Whenever I’m in Lisbon I head for the Gulbenkian and this painting - Les Bretonnes au Pardon by Dagnan Bouveret. There is something about the crisply folded starched headdresses and the women’s faces looking out from the past. I have always wondered what was on the spire and I have just found out that it was festive flags. Check it out here. One can’t help but be blown away by the tiles on the buildings whilst waking between churches and art galleries, eating various versions of salted cod. Saturday night went to see The Making of Pinocchio by Cade and MacAskill was extraordinary https://www.artsadmin.co.uk/project/the-making-of-pinocchio/ highly recommended – a fabulous story told with great props and sets.

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looking through more images from Lisbon - love these -

meanwhile just read the latest book by/from Goldie - a totally mad (wonderfully box of frogs mad) with each sentence on every page spinning off into numerous fractured multiple looping tales, evening scores and developing the myth - a boisterous take no prisoners read. Latest podcast’s the dollop with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds- two guys chatting - the premise being that one person doesn’t know the subject- they have a great 'bloke' rapport and are very funny. Start with episodes 310a and 301b and also get to be horrified (even more so) by Trumps history. Whatever you think of him Russell Brand's Under the skin is a very intelligent listen, start with Billy Brag. The Boring Talks takes off-beat subjects and drills down to explore it. some films - if you like your family saga  films messed up watch The Meyerowitz Stories  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5536736/?ref_=ttfc_fc_tt if you like your coming of age, sexual awakening films all lingering in European heat Call me by your name is for you http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5726616/​ and if you desire your relationships fractured and lost but trying Lady Bird is for you http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4925292/?ref_=nv_sr_1

and finally the debut EP from Clerk 37 has some deeply haunting intelligent sounds https://soundcloud.com/8-mana/sets/clerk-37-or-u-waited-mana003-1 check it out now.

lisbonmagicandvision

 4 days in Lisbon- what to say - looking at endless tiled spaces has renewed my love of repeat pattern. I became particularly interested when one pattern juts up against another- this will be the starting point for the next body of work. 

Religious imagery was a large part of the break and was very powerful and particularly gruesome both in its depiction of cruelty and excessive materiality of the trappings involved with being the conduit of faith. Some of the best 'capes' ever - again something to return to re science/art capes. The collection of reliquary in the Igreja de Sao Roque  is one of the most comprehensive - I have never seen  part of the crib before. 

There are so many elements to the trip, more will come out later but for now - some great art - the Gulbenkian in Lisbon is always a favourite of mine - it reminds me of inside spaces within the Barbican. The collection is housed within 2 'old school modernist' buildings using tasteful materials set within glorious grounds. The walk taken from Lisbon’s centre takes you past monumental landscaping with its own seemingly monolithic monuments. The new contemporary art space MAAT with its swooping roof had two shows - digital highway last seem badly hung at the Whitechapel - here the hang gave the work space and a clearer reading. https://www.maat.pt/en Tension and Conflict Video Art after 2008 was an excellent and internationally broad show of video work and had some exceptional work. I have become interested in a concept introduced to me by Barbara Klare, that of artist as first responder and this lemon tastes of apple by Hiwa K is a particular version of this, after 2 months of protests in Kurdish area of Iran the video documents a single simple act that evolves and takes on numerous roles within the video. https://vimeo.com/52581227

And then there is the food - I ate some of the tastiest, creative food ever - grilled octopus that was set on fire and lamb couscous with spearmint sorbet were just two notable dishes - recommendations - Casa dos Pecados, Carmo and Oficina do Duque.