The Basingstoke Project 2017

Artikinesis’ Basingstoke Project is currently on display upstairs at the Willis Museum in Basingstoke. We are sharing the building with Hampshire Cultural Trust’s Turner and the Sun touring exhibition (downstairs) until the 16th of December, so you might want to allocate a little extra time in order to catch both exhibitions.

2 – 22 December 2017 upstairs at The Willis Museum Basingstoke RG21 7QD Tues to Friday, 10:00 to 17:00 Sat, 10:00 to 16:00 Free admisssion

Ghost

Ghost. Oil on canvas, 38 x 46 cm

This, a different angle on the ruined chapel at the Holy Ghost cemetery to that seen in my last post, was painted for Artikinesis' Basingstoke Project. I posted it on the Artikinesis site, but not here. It uses a very limited colour palette - there is no red (this is offset a little by the warm brown of the linen ground). I used only Phthalo Blue, Yellow Ochre and Titanium White.

The painting was based entirely on pen sketches made on site and memory.

Not Just Roundabouts

I've always liked the old railway posters. A "Travel" theme prompted this attempt at evoking their spirit, drawn in Molotow One4All Markers on A5. Since Artikinesis did The Basingstoke Project, I have a wealth of source material on Basingstoke (less than ten miles distant and, one could argue - as indeed we did - in need of an image adjustment). This is from a line sketch of the ruined chapel in the Holy Ghost cemetery, not far from the railway station.

Pre-preview Review

I have seen the whole of the Basingstoke Project, and it is good. I speak not of my own work, but of the others'. Uncertainty and frustration may have plagued various members of the group at different times, but all five of us have pulled through and, indeed, pulled something rather magical out of the hat.

I can't show you pictures (not yet), but I can describe how...

... Adeliza has produced an intriguing series of oil portraits in her distinctive style. How to describe that style? Ornate, chaotic, elaborate, deliberate, often tending towards red...

... Brian has demonstrated how the simple medium of pen and ink can have depth, and wit, and enormous variety. He has pushed his illustrative style into new realms (in one case, quite literally!) for this exhibition.

... Elinor has produced some of the most striking images. Hard lines and curves, perfectly placed, shown to perfection in gleaming prints on aluminium.

... Rosemary has scoured Basingstoke for the bold shapes and brilliant colours that typify her work. Dark dryads and thrillingly vibrant fruit meet the sharp lines of modern architecture. Abstraction is never far away, but is only fully expressed in one work.


Watch this space over the next few days as we prepare our pictures (hmm, screwing fixings on and wrapping mounted prints in cellophane), write labels and compile catalogues, then install (on Friday) and celebrate the imminent opening with a private view... I'm not promising regular updates - I will be rather busy - but when I find the time I will try to keep you up-to-date.

The group Web site is artikinesis.org.uk

Disjointed

I probably won't decide where each 30x30cm painting will go in the final array until I hang it at Proteus, so here are (just a few of) the many possible combinatons. There are actually 40320 ways of arranging eight paintings. I don't think that I will try all of them.

The Baingstoke Project will be on display (with static Disjoints) from 16 to 26 November 2014 at Proteus Creation Space in Basingstoke (the venue is featured in one of the paintings).

Full exhibition details on the Artikinesis site:

De Port's Kitchens

De Port's Kitchens,
oil on canvas, 40 x 50 cm

Yesterday, three fifths of Artikinesis visited Basing House as part of our Basingstoke Project. I have visited this fascinating site several times, but always with children in tow; I have long had a hankering to paint there. Specifically, to paint the kitchen fireplaces in the ruins of the Norman Castle (built in the 12th Century by the de Port family).

Cigarette Break

Lino print, 20 x 15 cm

I don't condone smoking in the slightest, but these two characters appeared outside a building on a business park while I was drawing the building and what could I do but include them? They spent a long time smoking their cigarettes - I was able to "zoom in" and sketch them on their own.

Doubly Disjointed

Passing the Ghost Acrylic on canvas, 30 x 30 cm Location:  Joice's Yard, Basingstoke On artikinesis	Yellow and Blue Acrylic on canvas, 30 x 30 cm Location:  Crown Heights (from the Anvil car park), Basingstoke On artikinesis

Two little squares of two bits of Basingstoke. My plan is to make a square number of these square paintings (4, 9, 16 or even 25... ) to be part of artikinesis's Basingstoke Project.

The series - the piece as a whole - is to be called Disjointed in reference to the isolation of each image and the way in which we (or at least, I) build up a mental picture of a big town: a series of  places that we know how to get to from our starting point, but do not necessarily know how to get from one to the other. Hence, the places are disjointed.

Artikinesis and the Basingstoke Project

"Labyrinth of Commerce", acrylic on canvas, 50 x 70 cm

Artikinesis is a new artist's collective. Our new collective.