London bound...

[Araich]

After an insane year of commissions and just before I start work on my next exhibition - I am off for 3 weeks in London including a few days in Paris.

What must I see, where must I go? All suggestions most welcome.

[Merlion]

Depends on what type of things & places that you'd like to see and go, Araich.

If you are talking about art museums, the places that I went at London were Tate Modern, Victoria & Albert, and British Museums, and National Gallery. At Paris they were Pompideu, d'Orsey and the Louvre. The London ones do not charge for entry, which is fantastic.

Talking about London, I was trying to see if I should go up on the London Eye, the giant ferris wheel, reputed to be a top tourist attraction. From far away Trafalgar Square, I could see it was not moving, so I thought it was either not yet opened, or not working. So I didn't go. It is only after I returned home that I understand it moves so very slowly that the movement cannot be detected.

[GaryR52]

I'm green with envy.

Well, there's always the Tate, of course.

Gary

[JAZ]

Congratulations on this awesome opportunity. I've never been to either place, though hopefully someday...
You are very lucky and will have a great time of course. Maybe you could post a trip journal like Sam's Dream Tour?
JAZ

[ahirschman]

A nice and small museum worth seeing (IMHO) is the Rodin museum - http://www.musee-rodin.fr/.

An interesting and somewhat unusual thing to do is to go down into the Paris catacombs - http://triggur.org/cata/

And, my favourite (This alone is worth the trip) - crepes avec creme de marron (Crepes with chestnut puree) - which are sold in stands throughout the Parisian streets.

Have a great wonderful time!!!

Ari

[Merlion]

Originally Posted by GaryR52

Well, there's always the Tate, of course. Gary

Talking about the Tate, they have split into two at different places, Tate Britain occupying the original building, and Tate Modern at a converted old power station building, located at a beautiful setting.

The story is that when I was in London I got the news that a special Henry Moore sculpture exhibition was on. So I looked up the map and made my way there. What I found was paintings by Turner, Constable, etc, and no Moore sculptures. When I asked they said, "Oh! That is at the Tate Modern, at the other side of the river". Unfortunately it was not quite walking distance. Anyway, the extra journey to Tate Modern was worth it, and I got to see a lot, not only Moore's sculptures.

[Matt Ashdown]

The Whitechapel is showing Paul McCarthy at the moment..go there. www.whitechapel.org/

The Tate Modern has an excellent large scale installation in the turbine hall (main entrance) by Rachel Whiteread comprising of 14,000 casts of boxes.

The Tate Britain is showing the Turner Prize at the moment.

There is some excellent and diverse work at the Camden Arts Centre www.camdenartscentre.org

Also try the residence gallery in hackney...it shows new artists and has themed exhibitions that are quite exciting. I exhibited there last month. www.residence-gallery.com

Another exciting exhibition to check out is Jonathan Monks exhibition at the ICA www.ica.org.uk

[iron ant]

Level-head,have a pint for me.I wish I had it together like you, because I have to go from commisions to get exhibit fabed by Febuary to have cataloge by april 06.I need twice the amount of time,but aint got it,gonna be a long winter here,make that two pints on me......IA

[Araich]

Thanks sincerely everyone.

I am leaving Monday arvo and can't wait. I've even been absent from the studio the last 2 days as my focus has already shifted.

Today is the Sculpture by the Sea Conference and I suspect that I will struggle to pay attention. If it weren't for a couple of key speakers I'd simply go to the beach instead!

[anne (bxl)]

I hope this is not too late! tell me when you are in paris! maybe I will be there also. In fact, this year I spend 1/3 of my time in paris and have an exhibition rulling at this time till nov 20th. The adress is 24 rue caulaincourt/paris 18e. lots of drawings and a few sculptures. I let you my phone number by mail.

My favorite museums in Paris are "centre pompidou" -for the moment a huge overview of the XX art century and an exiting exhibition about dada- http://www.cnac-gp.fr/Pompidou/Accue...unnel?OpenForm visit also the "palais de tokyo" surprising todays avant-garde exhibitions http://www.palaisdetokyo.org I like also more intimate private foundations as"maison rouge" who always have quality exhibitions http://www.lamaisonrouge.org/ or the "fondation cartier" http://www.fondation.cartier.fr/flash.html

There are lots of others, of course, depending of your time and interests. Paris is so rich! Have fun and report your experience to us...

[obseq]

Ahh, good on you for taking some time off.

I second JAZ's suggestion regarding Sam's Dream Tour

Be safe, and have a great time!

[Merlion]

Originally Posted by obseq

I second JAZ's suggestion regarding Sam's Dream Tour

What's this about Sam's Dream Tour ? Sounds intriguing.

[obseq]

Originally Posted by Merlion

What's this about Sam's Dream Tour ? Sounds intriguing.

Hi, Merilion,

Read all about it right here:
http://www.sculpture.net/community/s...ght=dream+tour


Enjoy!

[Araich]

Just a quick note to say that I am having a blast. A few days in Turin Italy at the Triennale with friends, the rest here in London. I leave for 4 days in Paris tomorrow and Anne (bxl) and I have sms'd each other and will meet up Sunday.
Next week I return to London and tea with Sir Anthony Caro at his Camden studio. This I am really looking forward to.

I don't believe that my fingernails have been this clean since I was twenty!

[sculptorsam]

Just now saw this... Wow!! Don't get into too much trouble. When you get back... pictures, pictures, pictures!

[Merlion]

There seems to be no more news from Araich on his trip through Italy to London and Paris. Perhaps it is not a good time to be there, as Europe is under heavy snow now.

But if he is in London these two days, the Trafalgar Square is the place to be, especially on New Year Eve, somewhat like the Time Square of New York city. There is no countdown of the Ball, but there will be fireworks and it is traditional that some revellers would jump in and dance at the fountains there, even in freezing and snowing weather.

I myself would love to be there this year for one additional reason. Over there, the London authority has recently installed a very unusual sculpture called 'Alison Lapper Pregnant'. It is a 3.5m tall marble statue of a nude pregnant woman with no hands and very stunted feet. It stands on the 4th plinth of the Square, and will be there for 18 months.

As expected, the statue creates strong positive and negative views. Artistically it is stunningly beautiful and attracts attention. The life model is an artist. If you read her real-life story, she can even be a role model for the disabled and for womanhood.

I put a link here to a good new-year review article on this statue.

And I put here another link to the page in her Homepage about this statue. In this page you can see pictures of the statue.

[Araich]

I've been back for over a month but have spent little time at the computer...
I had an excellent 'study trip', seeing over 35 galleries/museums in 3 weeks. I met up with Anne (bxl) in Paris for dinner and saw her show. Met Caro and saw his studio, which was very interesting. Visited Turin, Italy and a friend of mine who was working on the Triennale there. Managed to visit the Goodwood Sculpture park thanks to Wilfred Cass (they are closed in winter) and see the Tony Cragg show and the huge permanent collection. Really, the list is long, and I wont bore you with it all.
Needless to say, I had a great time.
I've been locked in the studio since my return and the new work is really interesting....

[obseq]

Araich,

I was just wondering about your trip--
Glad to hear you had a good time and returned safely.

Any pictures? Anne's show? Your new work?