New Waterfront Arts Project Show opens 5th March

This fabulous new paintimng by John Zehentner is for for the brand new Waterfront Arts Project show opening March 2017

If you are anywhere near Southport you just really have to check this out!  The Waterfront Arts Project is an unbelievable collection of local talent.  For those who are fed up with seaside galleries where all that is on display are watercolour paintings of the local scenery this will come as a welcome surprise.  This is art of the calibre of the TATE or Walker and if you love art you won’t want to miss this.  And they’re a generous lot too.  You’ll most likely be treated to free nibbles and drinks if you come to the opening (you might want to make a donation but they seem so embarrassed to ask for anything that you’ll probably have to hunt around to find the donations box on the floor somewhere).  Apart from the amazing realistic surrealism of John Zehentner you can expect some wonderfully dark art from the superb talents of Joan Walmsley, colourful abstract works and thought-provoking political art and satire from other members of the group.  There may be a theme but the art will be vast and varied.  If you are anywhere near Southport on March 5th why not pop down at 2pm and join in the fun. You’ll find the gallery on the Piazza promenade between the Ramada hotel and the Genting Club casino (PR9 0DZ for the satnav and you can park on Ocean Plaza just over the bridge).  If you can’t make it for 5th March it’ll be running until 7th May.

If you want to know more about the Southport Arts Project or you are a local artist who would like to join them you can visit their Facebook page here.

The World of Woodroffe

Universe 5 by Patrick Woodroffe

Falmouth Art Gallery
Municipal Buildings
The Moor, Falmouth
Cornwall, TR11 2RT
Telephone: 01326 313863

Free entry Monday – Saturday 10am-5pm

Fantastical creatures and mythical landscapes await you in the magical world of artist and writer Patrick Woodroffe (1940-2014).  Patrick Woodroffe was internationally known for his unrivalled genius as a draughtsman. His work belongs to a tradition begun by Hieronymous Bosch and continued in the 20th century by the surrealists.  He was a highly disciplined worker, his brushes and pens were laid out neatly like implements at a surgeons table.  This show running from 7th February to 18th April 2015 showcases a selection of Patrick Woodroffe’s paintings, drawings and tomographs.  If you are not yet familiar with the incredible work of Patrick Woodroffe then just click here.

Great art or arty farty?

I had my birthday yesterday and we went into Liverpool to visit the galleries in the morning. At the Walker Gallery there is an interesting exhibition of black and white photography on at the moment. It isn’t usually my thing but these are exceptionally good and many of them are very interesting and often also very amusing. These photographers definitely had a remarkable sense of humour and a quick eye to spot these often extremely transient phenomena. We also saw the John Moores prizewinners. Some of the winners seem so ridiculous it makes you wonder how they arrive at a result like that.  I recall that one of the entrants was a truly magnificent massive watercolour work that caught the attention of many local artists but that was , naturally, not to be found amongst the prizewinners.  Why that piece and some others were not “deemed worthy” is beyond me.

This morning as I sat down with a coffee I burst out laughing as it suddenly hit me (I don’t know why I never saw it while I was there!) but the John Moores competition being held at The Walker Gallery is unbelievably ridiculous. If it was at the TATE, fine, but at the Walker it actually shows something utterly ridiculous.  All these works of art in the Walker gallery have been collected over many years as great works of art including many of the country’s most loved artists and yet not one of them could possibly win the John Moores competition. So are they all rubbish and redundant in the face of the John Moores competition? Or is the John Moores competition a load of self-serving twaddle and redundant in the face of the great masters of the past? In the context of the Walker Gallery as a whole I do not see how one or the other conclusion is not applicable. Anyway, the absurdity of the whole thing certainly made me laugh. Maybe you can think of an answer to this dilemma but I can’t.  Let’s see what the comments show, if anything.

Château des Réaux art exhibition – opportunity or exploitation ?

On 8th April we asked the UK representative for Château des Réaux’s art exhibition and competition for more detailed information because we had been contacted by the president of an artists agency in the USA and some artists expressing their concerns about the legitimacy of this exhibition. Since then we have also been contacted by a journalist who is curious about the way in which this exhibition competition has been advertised. We hope that this is a legitimate exhibition and competition that will be of benefit to artists but we have a number of reservations that prohibit us from offering it on our opportunities for artists page with a link to them. This is what we know or do not know so far :

  • The exhibition competition is being run by Mr. Evgeny Yukhnytsya, the owner of Castle Reaux, who is apparently a well-known poet from the Ukraine. However, a Google search on Yukhnytsya gives nothing on him that was not written by his own staff. He is supposedly a well-known patron of the arts in France who has won a medal for his work (see below) so why is there nothing independentally written about him? Is there a valid reason or is he just what would be described in London by the technical term “a dodgy geezer”? We wish we knew!
  • Ms. Nadia Ovchinnikova is our contact at Château des Réaux. She contacted us on 3rd March 2008 with respect to posting their art exhibition competition details on Artists UK DotNet. She has only been there for a few months and initially reacted angrily to the questions we asked about the art exhibition competition. We did a check to ensure that the telephone number given was actually registered to Château des Réaux and this does appear to be the case.
  • Then she sent us an image of the award Mr. Yukhnytsya won from Academie Mazarine for his patronage of the arts (in the music field last time apparently). We have looked at Academie Mazarine. Although the Mazarines are an old order this appears to be a commercial website and it is difficult for us to assess the true value of this award. It doesn’t seem to compare to any such award we would have in the UK. It does not appear to be endorsed by any Governmental body for instance. Again, with no record elsewhere of him being awarded this and nothing on his poetry etc it is hard to substantiate the claim. That doesn’t mean he was not given this award for being a patron of the arts but what this award really signifies is uncertain.
  • Ms. Ovchinnikova became vague about who the judges would be, claiming it was being kept as a surprise. Who for? Surely any artist submitting work would want to know in advance who is going to judge it and what their credentials are. wouldn’t they? We wonder if anyone is ever going to know who the judges are. After promising to send more information she has done nothing at all so far.
  • There is no information regarding any independent accountants being involved to audit the competition and the giving of awards. Château des Réaux do not even state how and where the winners details will be published.
  • Their contract clearly states what the agenda is. The artist agrees to sell them their original oil painting with full title transfer for 305 Euros. This means that the artist retains no rights to the painting and Mr. Yukhnytsya can sell it for whatever he likes and also get royalties on the sale of reproductions, income from licensing etc forever afterwards. Is this really in the artist’s best interests or is it mostly in Mr. Yukhnytsya’s best interests? Is 305 Euros for full title transfer on an original oil painting a reasonable offer? Sounds very low to us. They say on their contract that this isn’t for everyone. Does that mean it is only for the really desperate? Isn’t that a form of exploitation? If you are an artist you will have to decide for yourself how you feel about this.
  • The legal contract also appears to give Mr. Yukhnytsya the legal right to display or sell a painting without acknowledging the artist. It only gives the artist the right to assert that they painted it. These two are very different and if this is correct we cannot see how this promotes the artist at all. Château des Réaux have not replied to clarify this point either.

If you are an artist who has submitted a painting to Château des Réaux we want to hear from you. Whether your feedback is positive or negative please contact us by email by clicking here. If you have not submitted work then you can leave your comments at the bottom of this post. We still hope to clarify the situation but unless Château des Réaux are prepared to provide more information this will not be possible.

Our recommendation based on what little we know is that any artist submitting a painting should be very clear about the contract they are entering into and be very aware that they are trusting a man who does not seem to be mentioned on the Internet other than in what has been written by his own staff at Château des Réaux. Will the competition awards really take place? Anyone’s guess right now. What do you think?

How about having your original art on sale to the whole world ?

It is very simple – just go to our ecommerce website here . Click the appropriate option into your shopping cart and you have bought a space in the gallery for a whole year! You go to the checkout and pay by credit or debit card. You then have two weeks to send us a jpg of your painting before your year starts. If you don’t have access to digital technology you can send us a high quality photograph that we will digitally photograph for you at no extra charge. Make sure you tell us as much as possible about the original work to help us sell it for you – materials used including the board or canvas, your inspiration for it and whether it has been published or won prizes etc as well as about yourself. You decide the price for it (remember to include your cost of delivering it to us when it sells and we charge a handling fee of 6% of the sale price for each sale). You can email your jpeg(s) & additional info to us (we only need a small jpg image that shows at around 4″ x 5″ on screen). We only display a small jpg so your copyright is better protected.

So; what are you waiting for? Your art can now be on sale to the whole world for a few pennies a day! Or even less if you exhibit more than one piece! See here for details.