VISIT TO MK GALLERY
During February, a number of members visited the Art Gallery in Milton Keynes at a time when it housed an exhibition of work by Boyd and Evans. These artists had used an unusual technique to produce stunning images from photographs of the real world, which inspired Peter Stileman and Cheryl Campbell to write poems. Some of them can also be seen on another website, and two that are the subject of Peter's poems are reproduced below, by kind permission of Boyd and Evans.
The lake lies there with its own purposeful ambiguity of tone. The artists' wit shows how menacingly out of place the water's artificial hue, too thrilling to be true, parodies the radiant blue of space. Organized with Dali's clouds, all colour spent, toned down to black or white, the picture brings to mind Magritte who subtly indicates perceived horror. Central here, insidiously wrong, that still blue eye is mocking.
What Art Can Do | |
Phase One - full colour
photograph: LakePowell:
Sky the baffling blue of
infinity,
gently ruffling water, one
wave just breaking,
foreground rock-mass a
thrusting fist
harmonizing with the ochre
hills behind.
A peaceful scene.
|
Phase Two: Leave the foreground rock in colour; Subdue the background: sky, water, hills; grayscale them into anonymity. so that the colours sing Phase Three: Now viewers look how .the rock-mass, with irresistible force punches out of the lake, its angry knuckles of burning magma millennia old, tell earth's story. |
Milton Keynes Gallery. Our trip to the exhibition at Milton Keynes turned out to be quite a treat. The exhibition was not art - in the painting sense - But through photography - the camera and lens - . The photographs were huge, placed in a semi-circular frame. Standing in the middle - you believed you were being brave. So vivid were the images that they took your breath away. Most of the photographs were in the ‘US of A’ Some of the areas were ‘clear as day.’ A railway line, with no train in sight still - made you imagine a train would rush by. We returned to Toddington to have some lunch. We had a ‘good time’ - we made quite a unique bunch. As we were leaving it started to snow It was beautiful, and left me with a remarkable glow.
OUTING TO LUTON MUSEUM
Always looking for new sources of inspiration, Toddington Poetry Society enjoyed a special evening visit to the museum in Wardown Park. This was arranged for us by one of our members, Siobhan Kirrane, who is a principal museum officer.
Siobhan welcomed the members and gave an introductory talk about museums and their importance in the community, claiming that they contain something for everyone. They are both treasure houses and dumps! Members of the public donate cherished items to be displayed and cared for. They also turn out old and unwanted items that give fascinating insights into life in the past. Every object has its own story. One such story concerned a notorious eighteenth century murderer in Yorkshire who dismembered his victims. The local museum owned his alleged amputation instruments. The fact that it was proved these had been made after the murderer's death did not detract from the frisson felt by visitors.
Siobhan talked of the sense of excitement felt when holding an ancient object, actually touching history, and she made available some beautifully crafted flint tools and fragments of Stone Age pottery for us to handle.
Something too precious to be touched was the newly acquired and extremely rare bronze mirror found in a ploughed field by an East Bedfordshire village. Two thousand years old, the mirror shows sophisticated craftsmanship. The Celtic metal worker had engraved an exquisite design of asymmetrical curved shapes, basket-weave patterned and interspersed with a unique feature - triskeles or triangles within circles. The looped handle’s spreading arms are riveted to the bronze disc, now cleaned and restored to reveal a glowing green/bronze patina.
Having admired this, we were given the opportunity to explore the museum at leisure - the archaeological and military galleries and the splendid new rooms on Luton life and history.
We reconvened in the gallery now showing an exhibition of vigorous drawings by two local artists which captured many people¹s attention, and discussed some of the things we had seen.
A series of poems resulted, which are currently held on file at the Museum, for possible display later.
Altogether it was a most interesting and enjoyable occasion. Thanks to Siobhan and her helpers.