Monday, May 30

I am typing this on the Eurostar flying through the countryside from Milan to Venice. I have started my residency in Bellagio, on Lake Como, and in between the hours of work, have been wandering around this small town, drawn by the ever changing light on the silver and black Lake Como, and the enormous charm of the ochre and red buildings which line the steep narrow cobbled streets.

Evening light on Lake Como

A visit to the graveyard reveals the genealogical history of the families of this town. Almost every gravestone has photographs, dating back to the earliest days of photography, austere sepia portraits in oval frames which gaze out into eternity. It’s also a history of photographic portraiture itself – family members who died in recent years appear in colour, set in modernistic glass frames.

The grave of the family Sala-Grossi

But now it’s on to Venice, and the mad four days as the entire art world descends upon this tiny island to look, to party, to gossip, and occasionally , one hopes to stand in awe, as the 54th Biennale, entitled ILLUMInations, opens to the world.

Entering Venice by train

Tomorrow night I will go to a cocktail party at the magnificent recently restored Ca’ Giustinian , hosted by chief curator Bice Curiger and director of the Biennale, Paolo Baratta to honour the artists, lenders and supporters of the Biennale.

Let the party begin.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Krakow, Poland. A city with an Old Town dominated by the monolithic Wawel Castle on the hill, dating from the 11th century and occupied by a succession of monarchs and emperors until the Nazis took possession in World War 11.

Krakow Old Town

On Friday, May 13, I flew into the city as an observer of the 2011 edition of Krakow PhotoMonth, and also to do a Krakow version of my ‘Other Voices Other Cities’ series. The theme of PhotoMonth, devised by the curatorial team of photographers Olly Chanarin and Adam Broomberg, was Alias, a theme which seemed particularly appropriate to this city with its layers of dubious history. We are staying in the old Jewish district, Kazimierz, now a hip part of the city, with numerous clubs and small restaurants.

Not an artwork, but tokens of love – padlocks on a city bridge

With Alias, the curators’ unique idea was to create a series of exhibitions by a hybrid team of writers and artists. First, a writer was asked to write a story. Next, an artist made a piece of work based on the protagonist of the story. Finally, another writer invented a name and an artist’s biography based on the story and the artwork.

This invented name was the one that appeared in the catalogue. The exhibition openings, then, are a series of investigations into who did what with whom, and what came out of that collaboration.

The opening of ‘Ivan P’’s exhibition

And of course, there is time for parties, catching up, and good Polish food.

Friday, May 13, 2011

Life has been totally crazy for the past two weeks between returning from New York and London and leaving for Poland and Italy.

I did get to see ArtThrob’s editorial assistant Natasha Norman’s masters show, up for one night at the Michaelis Gallery. Her large scale linocuts are printed with shifting veils of colour viewed through grids, which hover between classic engravings and early television screens. Images are sourced from the movie Apocalyse Now and have something of the same hallucinogenic quality.

Natasha Norman in front of her work.

I also couldn’t miss Paul Edmunds’ obssessive line drawings in graphite at the Stevenson gallery, and Penny Siopis’ brilliant video on the story of a nun who was attacked and killed in the Transkei, many years ago. Siopis writes scripts based on careful research and cuts and pastes found random home movie and other footage to create films which seem truer in spirit than a straight documentary could ever be.

But mainly I worked on the photoshoot we did in New York for my Other Voices Other Cities series. In the workshop to decide on a statement of what it means to New Yorkers to live where they do, the group came up with, I MEAN, WHERE ELSE ARE YOU GONNA GO? Such a perfect expression of New York attitude.

Detail from the Other Voices Other Cities: New York shoot

We shot on a late afternoon on the silvery roof of an East Village squat, with the Empire State building floating in the background. I’m really happy with it.