Pea Arts About

    A recent discovery in my growing self-awareness has been learning that within my broad love of cinema and art one of my favourite sub-genres is the art documentary. By that I mean documentaries about the art world, market, artists and practices rather than artists' films that are documentary in nature, although I'm partial to those too. The latter have often fuelled my research and teaching, but as a form of relaxation and more gentle learning, I do love a good doc telling me something about art and artists. It is a way of seeing that to which I typically do not have access because the works are hidden away in private collections or galleries I'll never get to visit. But far beyond mere interest and information, Beyond the Visible: Hilma af Klint, written and directed by Halina Dyrschka and available to view now via Modern Films , simply blew me away. Hilma af Klint was a Swedish artist born in 1862 who made paintings substantial in size and sum and kept meticulous note...

In mid-June, I visited a friend who was coming to the end of a semester teaching for Venice International University . The few days immersed in the heat, sun, art, history and excellent company were restorative. Much of what I experienced has reignited my research and writing mojo. The focal point of this was visiting Damien Hirst’s Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable . I’m working on a blog post to order some thoughts on this, as well as researching it in depth to produce a conference paper and publication on it. For now, here is a collection of thoughts and images from the rest of the trip. La Biennale di Venezia, 57th International Art Exhibition , VIVA ARTE VIVA I had three full days in Venice. It was hot and my friend still had work to do and had already seen many of the biennale pavilions. There was no point in wrecking ourselves to see everything. I much prefer getting more out of smaller aspects of things anyway, as it can be overwhelming and counter-prod...