<link>/blog/</link><description /><copyright>(c)2012 </copyright><ttl>60</ttl><atom:link href="/blog/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" /><item><guid>/blog/article.aspx?id=22</guid><title>Idi Amin`s Bunker Doubles up as Artists` StudiosAt the top of one of Kampala’s seven hills, Idi Amin’s old bunker is being used as a studio space. Unfortunately the dispute over land is proving difficult for artists David Kigozi and Jude Kateete who met 10 years ago through an artists workshop. "We are living amongst armed police, it is not a relaxed environment for us to work and we never know who is in control of the land so we could be evicted at any time.” Kigozi and Kateete share the space with a group of craft workers and have built a platform on which they work precariously perched on wooden floorboards six feet above the ground. Both these artists have established themselves on the Ugandan art scene and are represented by the small collection of commercial galleries in the capital. Everything is improvised; from the studio space to the materials they use. Acrylic paints cost them twice as much as they do in the UK and quality, primed canvas is impossible to afford. Instead, they use pieces of material even corduroy and old tablecloths from the market yet despite these set backs the work they produce is inspired.      Left: Artist David Kigozi        Right: `Afro Series` | Acrylic on canvas | 100cm x 100cm Kigozi uses large brushstrokes, spontaneous movement through the use of a palette knife and most importantly he has the ability to capture the beauty of the African body. In his Afro Series, Kigozi plays with composition and colour focusing on the features of his sitter and blurring the background into solid blocks of colour on which he can project his subject.      Left: Artist Jude Kateete                                                             Right: `Skipping` | Acrylic on canvas | 150cm x 90cm Jude has taken a less realist approach, using the theme of children at play but proving more conceptual in interpretation to that of his contemporaries. He works in a minimalist style which is alien to many African artists who are so eager to fill the canvas with colour and detail. He uses simple lines to create a highly aesthetic and pleasing execution of simple subject matter. He uses a plain palette and his figures are reminiscent of British artist Julian Opie`s style of black outlines and flat areas of colour. He is thinking apart from the rest; it is inspiration in an art world of copycats. ]]>/blog/article.aspx?id=22Tue, 28 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT/blog/article.aspx?id=20Visiting Artists` Studios - Tom Coffee, Zimbabwe ‘Beware! Vicious Chickens’ warns the plastic sign hanging on the gate but I take my chances and pass through to the small studio where the ageing fish tank has grown even darker with algae. Four years have passed since I visited Tom Coffee at his studio and home in Rusape, Zimbabwe and thankfully little has changed. His parting words in 2007 were “You know, I might not be around too much longer” so I was pleased to see him in his kitchen baking a cake when I arrived. I am greeted with a kiss and huge smile. He loves to have company although he assures me that he is quite happy there on his own. His painting gives him purpose which sadly not many 83 year old`s can claim to have “so life is worth living." We are suddenly interrupted by a whirlwind in the form of a yapping psychotic Jack Russell named Chloe. I peer outside to where her elderly owner is feebly calling after her. After three record breaking laps round the sitting room, the dog peels off and out the door. Tom is unfazed. His production of paintings has not slowed in fact Tom currently has four paintings on the go. His technique is to work on them all at the same time, taking one colour and using it on each one before moving onto the next. A large painting hangs on the easel, still wet from the last layer of paint. He wants me to guess amongst the dozens of figures which was his inspiration for the painting. His challenge takes me back to my Where’s Wally days of scouring an illustration for a geeky spectacled man, but I soon spot it; an African woman dancing, her rear in the air - perfectly captured. Circled above: The dancing lady; the figure the painting was based around To view Tom’s paintings click here ]]>/blog/article.aspx?id=20Sun, 20 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT/blog/article.aspx?id=19NH.com London Exhibition `Construção` 18th - 23rd January © Tom Gildon Our latest exhibition opened with a bang at the Private View of Construção - recent paintings by Brazilian artists Fabio Merker and Tulio Pinto. Both artists are well represented in Brazil and have paintings in private collections across Europe but this is their first show in the UK. It is also a collaboration with British architects Sophie Goldhill and David Liddicoat of Liddicoat & Goldhill. Their award winning practice has designed, built and developed a new build private house in Camden, North London. NH.com teamed up with L & G to host the exhibition in The Shadow House, the newly completed project that was ready to open its doors to the public during the exhibition. Hundreds of people came to see the opening of the exhibition, those interested in the art and the architecture, it was a wonderful partnership with both elements complimenting the other. The textured layering of Merker`s canvasses hung beautifully against the shining black bricks of the house and natural light flooded through the glass ceiling on the top floor to illuminate the bright, vivacious colours adopted by Tulio Pinto. A great collaboration indeed. Thank you to those who came to see it, we hope you enjoyed the experience! If you are unable to view the slideshow below please visit our Facebook page Created with Admarket`s flickrSLiDR. Photographs by Tom Gildon ]]>/blog/article.aspx?id=19Wed, 19 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT/blog/article.aspx?id=17Brazilian artist Fábio Merker exhibits on home turf
Today saw the opening of Fábio Merker`s exhibition at Galeria Modernidade in Novo Hamburgo, Brazil. It is the first solo exhibition for the Brazilian who grew up in New York and now lives and works in his native country. The exhibition will run for two weeks. NicolaHall.com is pleased to announce that Merker will join Túlio Pinto for a joint exhibition in London next year. We are teaming up with young British architects, Liddicoat & Goldhill to show the work of the two Brazilians in a newly designed and developed private home in North London. We`ll keep you posted....
]]>/blog/article.aspx?id=17Wed, 15 Sep 2010 00:00:00 GMT/blog/article.aspx?id=16Azevedo responds to demand for sketches Zimbabwean artist Arthur Azevedo has exclusively designed a collection of six animal sketches for NicolaHall.com The animals including Elephant, Hyena, Baboon, Hippo, Rhino and Warthog are fresh from the artist`s studio in Harare and are now available to buy online. Catch them before they get away.... ]]>/blog/article.aspx?id=16Mon, 30 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT/blog/article.aspx?id=15Túlio Pinto features in Brazil`s top design magazine   
`Casa` is Brazil`s "biggest and best magazine for decoration and design" and one of our artist`s, Túlio Pinto, was proud to see his work on the wall of the house featured that month. Pinto`s enormous 2m² painting was bought from his representative gallery Galeria Eduardo H. Fernandes in São Paulo, by a well known Paulista socialite and hung in their exclusive home. Designed and constructed by a famous contemporary architect, the house was snapped by `Casa` and features a stunning photograph of the painting in situ. See below...
]]>/blog/article.aspx?id=15Wed, 16 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT/blog/article.aspx?id=12Video interview with our latest discovery from Salvador, Brazil - artist Menelaw Sete. In the heart of the historical centre of Salvador, Brazil, artist Menelaw Sete welcomes art lovers into his studio. Armed with a handycam on a warm evening in March, we shot a video of Menelaw at work in his studio and asked him a few questions about life and work in Pelorinho, the cultural capital of Brazil. NicolaHall.com works together with Menelaw selling his paintings and gaining exposure across Europe. Already known in France and Italy he is yet to explode onto the UK market...catch his paintings here soon. ]]>/blog/article.aspx?id=12Wed, 19 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT/blog/article.aspx?id=11NH.com exhibition gets the drums beating May 21st, 10am-6pm, FREE Troubadour 236-267 Old Brompton Road- SW5 9JA nicolahall.com troubadour.co.uk
"Online brasilian and african art gallery springs to life for a day." "The basement of London’s Troubadour Café has been graced by the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan and Jimmy Page, but upstairs this May it’ll showcase the first physical exhibition of rising Brasilian artists from a new online gallery, nicolahall.com." "Having studied Art History and worked at the Royal Academy and Tryon Gallery, the website is passion and project of young English art dealer Nicola Elphinstone. But it was her partner’s international career which took them to Zimbabwe, Kenya and finally Brasil, immersing her in the vibrant art scenes abroad. Now representing and selling artists’ work from these countries, Nicola aims to “bring within reach original and affordable art." "Launching the website in February, where she provides insight into each artist’s life with journal accounts, she recently returned from two years in Brasil. This month she’ll hold a one-day show presenting the work of three Brasilians: Menelaw Sete, ‘the Picasso of Brasil’ (above), a Salvador-based eccentric who once held an underwater exhibition; Túlio Pinto (below), with vast acrylic compositions bursting with colour; and Fábio Merker (top image), fascinated by degrees of dis/organisation, adapting the Brasil flag moto as ‘Order and Chaos’, mixing ridgid motifs with (uncontrollable) dripping paint. Catch their work before it’s back to hyperreality." ______________________________ May 21st, 10am-6pm, FREE Troubadour 236-267 Old Brompton Road- SW5 9JA nicolahall.com troubadour.co.uk
]]>/blog/article.aspx?id=11Wed, 12 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT/blog/article.aspx?id=4Underground City "A fiercely creative artist, photographer, curator and musician, Túlio is about as passionate as they come." I met artist Túlio Pinto after exploring Porto Alegre`s `Cidade Baixa` an area well known for it`s arty, bohemian attitude and which when translated means `Underground City`. It was regenerated by a nightlife of bars occupying old colonial one story houses. They feel more like cafes until the night owls appear at midnight and music erupts from every doorway. The first thing I notice is the art on the walls. Bar owners encourage local artists by hanging their work adding a creative atmosphere to this intimate night time gathering by showcasing the community talent. There is art everywhere, in a refreshingly informal display.Much goes unnoticed as people move from one cold beer to the next oblivious of the pictures adorning the walls but I love the fact that here art lives alongside music and socialising in the most informal of settings. After all, this is Brazil. My meeting with Túlio was more chance than intention and therefore some would class it as luck. Luck indeed that I loved his work. Túlio is a creative soul, he invites me to a gig he is playing the following week as lead singer and guitarist. It seems that on top of coordinating the production and running of a band he is also the co-founder and curator of an artist’s atelier called Subterrânea. Here, a dozen or so artists share a gallery space to exhibit their work. Túlio is also a fundraiser. He contacts well known artists across Brazil to donate pictures to be exhibited with the proceeds going towards Subterrânea and the promotion of young Brazilian artists. I soon realise his pro-activity and ambition. And the best bit, in my opinion, are his paintings. An explosion of colour, energy, space and scale all achieved by acrylic paint on canvas. If only it were that simple. Artist Túlio Pinto with his installation `Duas Grandezas` | Galeria Iberê Camargo - Usina do Gasômetro | Porto Alegre // June 2009.]]>/blog/article.aspx?id=4Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT/blog/article.aspx?id=10Order and Chaos "São Paulo is like LA on acid." `Ordem e Progresso` (Order and Progress) adorns the Brazilian national flag. An oxymoron? Surely you need chaos in order to achieve progress? Something I find myself discussing with Fábio Merker an artist from São Leopoldo, near Porto Alegre in the south of Brazil. Born in 1971, Fábio Merker trained as a graphic designer and is currently studying for a Masters at Escola de Design UNISINOS, Porto Alegre. In his painting career, he has participated in a dozen group exhibitions across Brazil and is represented in Buenos Aires, New York and Amsterdam. His work features in private collections around the world including Australia, Argentina, Holland, New Zealand, United States, England and South Africa. He speaks the best English I have heard from a Brazilian, it`s seamless and on our first meeting I am unsure of his true nationality. He reveals that he spent his high school years in New York, which certainly explains the American twang. The privilege of working with a foreigner with perfect English does not go unnoticed due to my own lingual struggle with Portuguese. I can see from his flawless English that precision is a personality trait and one of the first things I notice about Fábio`s paintings is the time and effort that goes into each one.        Fábio Merker in his studio // São Leopoldo // August 2009 In relation to Brazilian national `order and progress` Merker claims the contrary, joking that the traffic in the capital is like `LA on acid` (not quite the progress President Lula is trying to achieve). Fabio bases his work however, not on the motto of Brazilian national identity but on the idea of order and chaos. I find this an interesting focus from the Brazilian because, in my experience of the country, it is the epitome of both. A sleek, modern, developed country on the one hand and an utterly chaotic, developing country on the other. Merker`s painting is often based on a repetitive module, a container, something that we can control. The paint in between represents the uncontrollable element. As the paint drips between the modules there is an obvious notion of gravity and other forces acting beyond our human control. We want order, but we can`t have what we want; there will always be chaos. "My work suggests registries of daily life obtained through processes of interaction between distinct systems such as pigments, canvas, fluids, patterns and shapes. When combined, the pictorial outcome of such interaction stands beyond reach of its author`s control. Chaos gives final shape to each symmetrically disposed geometrical module. Time/space elapsed after brush strokes determines the "true order" of the constructo matematico. Difference through repetition. Life as I experience it taking place then and there. Each module serving as a support system to the composition, as well as establishing a printout of time/space where gravity, attraction, and repulsion forces coexist. Constrictions and limitations of the parameters previously imposed by the author are overrun by entropy. Daily tracings of life are programmed, diluted, and revealed in a work permeated by vestiges of presence in absence." Fábio Merker, 2009]]>/blog/article.aspx?id=10Mon, 12 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT/blog/article.aspx?id=8The Simple Life? Rodney Artiles in his studio // Fortaleza // September 2009 "It is in the experience of the rural simple life, like that of the village fisherman, that great wisdom and beauty are kept and guarded." Palm trees, dirt roads, cows, goats and an American artist in north east Brazil. Six hours by plane from Porto Alegre in the south, I arrive and it feels like a different country, a different continent. More passion, more colour, less western, less materialistic. American artist Rodney Artiles invites me to his home in the rural area of the city of Fortaleza. Known to foreigners for its promise of good weather and picture postcard beaches. I see a different picture as I travel out of the city, weaving through small villages, past banana trees and livestock. Rodney Artiles is an established artist in the United States with collectors avidly following the development of his work. In 1997 he gained a BFA in Painting from the California College of the Arts, Oakland, California and more recently an MFA in Painting at the Academie Minerva/ Frank Mohr Inst., the Netherlands. He moved to Brazil one year ago and his latest collection of paintings are inspired by his new, and by all accounts, different life. Raina the cat // Fortaleza // September 2009 Rodney`s studio is an outbuilding in a garden overrun by mouth watering tropical fruits. A simple, cluttered space filled with paints and pages from art history books and where his work in progress leans up against the wall. His cat sits comfortably on an old newspaper. The Virgin Mary sits on an open window sill and there is peace and quiet. It`s easy to see why his thought process has gone back to the simple things in life; to the earth and environment that surrounds him. The narrative in his paintings all seem to unite in the same message. Look at your surroundings, take it in, use it and take great pleasure from it. There appears to be a new found freedom in his thinking, a message, a revisited perspective on the simple life. Fragments of Fortaleza is brown, earthy and honest. It contains imagery of what surrounds the artist in its simplest form - cows, people, food. It is so fundamentally rural and simple. An open expression of what is on the artist`s mind. He explores further in Catch As Catch Can with the notion that we "catch what we need for each day." Artiles addresses the need for a balance in what man can achieve. I find him unexpectedly quiet, gentle and pensive. He talks fondly and admirably of his mentor in the States, Raymond Saunders, whose work has undoubtedly had a profound effect on Rodney`s way of thinking and consequently on his painting. "My paintings are field notes from a life. Taken together they are a necessarily incomplete account of my observations on what it means to be a human in the world, set down in shapes and lines, colours and textures." Rodney Artiles, 2009.]]>/blog/article.aspx?id=8Sat, 26 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT/blog/article.aspx?id=2Talking Kenyan Politics "The concept...is a commentary on the constitution-making process in Kenya." Out in the industrial estates of Nairobi, seemingly miles away from the safe haven of the coffee houses and shopping malls of the wealthy suburbs, I find the GoDown arts centre and more importantly artist Peterson Kamwathi. Behind the gate sits a cluster of artists studios and makeshift offices filled with young, energetic enterprises from web design to dance and theatre and of course painting and sculpture. Dozens of young Kenyans, jump and spin in unison to the sound of contemporary, native beats. After wandering around the various studios, it is Peterson`s studio that captures my attention and I feel awkward as he enters to find me standing uninvited in his space. He immediately puts me at ease with a warm welcome talking me through his work, thoughts and ideas for future projects.
Peterson signing the woodcut series. Nairobi // June 2007   “The concept behind this series of woodcuts is a commentary on the constitutional process in Kenya, mainly sparked by the referendum of November 2005" says Peterson. "I started this series in October that year when those allied for and against the proposed constitution started campaigning. I look at this series not only as a commentary on this issue, but also as a form of archiving images and symbols at this moment in Kenyan history.”
I find Peterson softly spoken yet firm in his beliefs. He is an observer of life in contemporary Kenya, often commentating on political issues. In the Kenyan Bulls series he refers specifically to the constitutional referendum in 2005. The woodcut prints, each an edition of two, all feature a different cow, the symbol of wealth in Kenya. `Bananas` and `Oranges` are symbols of the `for` and `against` vote for the constitution (read more below). `Bomas` is the name given to the draft and the place where the constitution was held; the word also refers to a livestock enclosure which Kenyans use to keep their cattle. The fourth woodcut print, `Wako` is the name of the Attorney General of Kenya. The picture features men in suits in the background, a potent reminder of the corruption that exists in governmental positions. Amos Wako has managed to retain his position since 1991 despite fierce criticism for failing to prosecute the perpetrators of the post-election violence that killed at least 1,300 people, and for not dealing with the architects of several audacious corruption scams worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Some background on the narrative in Peterson`s work... The promise of a new constitution - Kenya 2002 Under the constitution in 2002, Moi had to step down after a 24-year tenure. The last decade was a testament to the ruler`s greed. Infant mortality rates increased rapidly and life expectancy and school enrollment fell; there needed to be a change of government. So, in 2002, an alliance to the new opposition was formed and lead by Mwai Kibaki. In the lead up to the elections, a new constitution was proposed and the whole country joined in the draw it up. After months of debate, a draft was agreed at a conference centre near Nairobi called `Bomas`. It provided for devolution, a powerful Prime Minister and other reforms that diluted the powers of the Presidency. A deal was made between Kibaki and Odinga, a powerful politician in Moi`s government who then switched sides. Kibaki would be President and Odinga Prime Minister. They also agreed that if they came to power they would investigate the previous regime for corruption. A month before the election Kibaki was injured in a car crash. Odinga went into overdrive, travelling around the country, pushing for Kibaki`s bid for the Presidency. Kibaki duly won but he and his allies then agreed that the new constitution had only been neccessary because of Moi. Now he was gone it was safe to have a strong President again. A new constitution was drawn up retaining the presidency as it was. Odinga and the Kenyan people had been double crossed. The constitutional referendum - Kenya 2005 The proposed new constitution was voted down by a 58% majority of Kenya`s voters. Many government officials, including President Mwai Kibaki, had campaigned for a `Yes` vote on the constitution, which divided the ruling National Rainbow Coalition into camps, for and against the proposal. Due to the high number of illiterate voters in Kenya, votes are typically cast using symbols rather than text to indicate a preferred candidate. Those who supported the constitution were assigned the symbol of the banana, while the opposition were assigned the orange as their means of representation. The referendum divided Kenyans and spurred violence between `Orange` and `Banana` supporters. `During the campaign period spread over several months, nine people died but the process itself was peaceful. ]]>/blog/article.aspx?id=2Sat, 15 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT/blog/article.aspx?id=6You must meet Tom Coffee..."...he is not unlike one of his artistic caricatures with his wily grey hair and knobbly knees." Tom Coffee at work on`Royal Wedding` // October 2006 I want to talk about one artist in particular, one who from our first encounter, has never left my consciousness – and that is Tom Coffee. American by birth, he moved to Zimbabwe and has spent most of his adult life there. He now resides at the ripe old age of 81 in a retirement home called ‘Resthaven’ or as he calls it, in reference to his fellow inmates, ‘Pesthaven.’ His one-bedroomed bungalow is nestled amongst the others but stands out thanks to a wonderfully overgrown garden and brightly coloured front door. Tom gamefully welcomes me in after I introduce myself and explain that I am interested in selling his work. Wearing blue shorts and a yellow artist’s smock he is not unlike one of his artistic caricatures with his wily grey hair and knobbly knees. As we shuffle past the paint splattered easel and sit down with half a cup of tea, (he forgets to add a tea bag to my milk and hot water) Tom explains about his latest commission from a gay club in Miami who have requested an extra large painting to hang behind the bar. He tells me he can hardly keep up with the demand of so many commission requests but that he could paint me a couple. “Although I might die before I finish them you know” he jokes in his southern American drawl. I find Tom Coffee full of funny anecdotes, most notably one relating to the obvious pun of his surname. He recounts that, before being forced into retirement at "Pesthaven", he lived in an old farmhouse on the main road between Harare and the Eastern Highlands. Outside his house, on the roadside, hung a sign brandishing his name. Needless to say those on route for a weekend away would pull in for coffee. He admitted he got so used to the constant stream of company that he began to welcome these hoards of motorists (convinced they had chanced upon a roadside cafe) into his home. Fun, colourful, humorous and satirical, a Tom Coffee picture will never fail to make you smile. ]]>/blog/article.aspx?id=6Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT