Artitecture - What Do Artists Do All Day?

Interesting to see Wales-adopted artist Shani Rhys James is being featured in a new BBC4 edition of "What Do Artists Do All Day?", to be broadcast this month ...though unfortunately hidden on a channel that few people watch.

Not long ago Shani had the accolade of being the only living artist featured in Rolf Harris's TV series "Rolf on Welsh Art", so is clearly becoming a tele-genic art celeb!

I won't begin to claim credit for this success, but I came across Shani's work several years ago while I was studying Architecture at Cardiff University (and I more recently wrote the Wikipedia entry about her). For a 'primer' design project I studied a number of local South Wales artists and their workspaces. I then used some of my observations to imagine what Shani Rhys James' workspace might be like. This was before the days of Google Street Snoop and I only knew she lived in mid-Wales, possibly in a coverted barn building. Some of her paintings are VAST in size, so I conjectured her workspace was barn-like in size and character.

My work of 'artitecture' (pictured above) was intended to be tongue-in-cheek, with a graphic, descriptive element as a concession to the clinical white-and-balsawood world of the architecture school. In my view, my other works of 'artitecture' were better works of art, being based on actual locations, contents, measurements and observations. But it will be extremely interesting to see whether my predictions about Shani's studio were in any way correct!

Open Art House

Blechynden Studios, W10

My annual pilgrimage to the London Open House took place this weekend. These days I have a foot in both architecture and art... and I found myself visiting a purpose-built block of artists studios, an Arts Centre and an art gallery.

Blechynden Studios, on the edge of Notting Hill, claim to be the first purpose-built block of artists studios in London, completed in 1999. They looked the part, but the resident artists complained that the opaque glass walls let out too much heat, made worse by the fact the landlord ran out of money during construction and didn't install heating of any kind!

There was a wide mixture of locally produced art on display. My favorites were the colourful paintings of Gabrielle Seymour, of course. Much of the remainder did not appeal, though with my fascination for graveyards I was drawn to Clare Burnett's set of vibrant aluminium grave 'silhouettes', created for an installation at West Norwood Cemetery.

Next was the brand new "Yaa Centre" by Foster Wilson Architects, creatively hidden behind Victorian mews in Maida Hill. Beside the clever and rugged architecture, the visit was an unexpected introduction to the resident Caribbean steelpan orchestra. Downstairs yet another surprise was the Artist-in-Residence, a trained engineer and photographer, who created impressive carnival masks on intricate wire frames.

Lee Jiyen 'Wherever you will go'

My final stop, conveniently close to the coach station, was the famous Saatchi Gallery. The building combined a vast classical portico'd frontage with a modern, multi-level extension to the rear. An oily smell pervaded the ground floor, filtering up from Richard Wilson's intriguing "20:50", a ...erm ...whole basement gallery half filled with a confusing mirror lake of black sump oil!

Throughout many of the remaining galleries were works by a number of Korean painters, sculptors and installation artists. Top of my favorites were Lee Jiyen and her incredible people-infested photographic montages. Equally enthralling were the clever 3D painted images by Hong Sung Chul, painted on taught string.

After all that, I needed a good snooze in a darkened National Express bus!