Real Art News: August 2017

Thursday, 24 August 2017

well its all perfectly decent you know !

Shibari by Valerio, .......apparently!!??

Life Drawing with a Kink ! .....

So , I have recently held a rather last minute little arts and crafts week up at maker heights on the Rame, in Cornwall ( which is incidentally just along the coast from the little town that I grew up in ) , and as well as damn near burning out I have thoroughly enjoyed myself !!!

A little about Maker ...... well it seems that it was once some military fortification or other and does still have a few architectural echoes that would indicate such ! apparently it has been used as various extra cirrucular and rehabilitative bases over the decades , but aside from all of that ... aside from the blah blah historical importance of some neglected ruin , aside from the value of the actual real estate that it actually resides on , or the cost of rennovations or any of that stuff

just for a minute I want to consider what Maker represents as a whole .... these days its a little bit of land that overlooks the sea , in a wonderful rural location ! its a place that offers very reasonably priced camping a very short distance from Plymouth!! and yet, also has a stunning example of a little Cornish village right on the estuary just down the hill ..and at the moment it represents , just like ADM and Ruigoord in Amsterdam and numerous other little ' Free ' spaces , psaces where if you want to put up a little exhibition , or a little demonstration ... a little social interaction , then these are the kinds of place to be able to do it .... and they are absolutely vital ... the main internal structure of the whole Gallery scene is exactly where street art came from .... huge numbers of exceptionally talented artists that couldn't get gallery space , started using the city scapes that surrounded them as their galleries ... but now of course, like everything else it has become completely enveloped by the profiteers , and now only certain street art is demanding high prices and the rest , well the rest is just graffiti ...... not the artists themselves of course , but just the whole trendy veneer of it all .... kind of like what happened to the Greenwich village scene I guess !! Personally I think that the original format before it went all gallery end , was the best !! when it really was Artists saying fuck off we don't need your gallery ... engaging in a necessary illegal activity , flouncing unjust laws , and using the image as a medium to convey actual ideas actual message , and bring a little art and provocation of thought into the minds eye of the passer by ..... and even the so and so Hearts such and such ... well everyone has to start somewhere .... and who isn't beguiled when you see something like that ... who was so and so , and how the fuck did that carve that , this far up this tree ?? or whatever x

I think we will do this again ..... Hooray for the Free Spaces !!

Monday, 14 August 2017

Not your usual Artsy Fartsy Nonesense x

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The Signature Style

Part of the ongoing body of works that have been come to be known as ' the Valerio Signature Style ' that has now come to encompass independent sub headings within the genre, including , ' The mandalas ' , ' The Orgy Balls ' , ' Studies of the Female Form ' , ' Cerebral ' and ' Unorthodox'

A manner of works I began working on as a child , to attempt to keep away from over embellishing them or over anthropomorphising or patterning , just to stay in the most grounding earthy tones and let the mind wander through the undulations to assist in the firing of the imagination

'The Under-exaggerated Origins of V'

After studying at Plymouth College of Art and Design, Valerio continued his studies at Sheffield Hallam University and Greenwich University and West Kent College.

Now based between his studio in Cornwall and Amsterdam, he is able to collaborate with some of the best known names in Art and Architecture on an international scale as well as here at home in the south west.

Valerio Describes his own work as ' dreamlike manifestations, evoking less than circumstantial references to archetypal memories of landscapes, and local geographies, figurative studies and all in between that which is captured in the veld of the diverse experiences that make up a lifetime.'

Chris Burchell, Art Critic and Curator of the Wharf Gallery , Tavistock 2010

written a few years ago now.

Valerio has been a keen art student. he has made excellent progress, demonstrating an imaginative and innovative response to a variety of stimuli, and has produced some outstanding units of course work.

Valerio has improved his ability to draw from observation with increasing skill and enjoys working in a variety of media, he has shown ability to draw from experience and imagination. Valerio has produced paintings of unusual quality, and shows a real awareness of the use of colour. His heightened critical awareness of other artists and cultures is an integral and successful aspect of his own work and he works well independently. Valerio's talent recommends him without question.

1998 Sue Lord artist and teacher

What do you make of the artist as a person?

Valerio , the man is a Raving Maniac, A genuine charicature of what an artist should be, hes eloquent and polite soft spoken and gentile , unless he is working on something of particular focus then he can be irritable , and unreasonable , never knowing if he is about to burst into song , or scream and shout a series of profanities against whatever is vexing him most at the time, even visitors to the gallery , ever outspoken and provocative toward debate, the constant array of models and well wishers that tend to come with the Artists Gallery appearances , can make even a quiet day seem lively!

Elusive is something of an understatement with this Artist and appearances are Rare as are his lectures and public exposures but a keen collaborator you will find the signature Valerio influence in many places you really wouldnt be expecting to find it, A very strong talent for such a young Artist already exhibiting his well developed style so that it is instantly recognizable, a Talent and a Character rapidly gaining in influence and popularity, and deservedly so!

T. McCracken Owner of The Tiffany Gallery East Looe

101 Reasons....

From the series of sketchbook illustrations that eventually became the published book of illustrations ' 101 Reasons to choose a vocation in the creative industries ' the original series started out as a series of autobiographical sidenotes in my working sketchbooks, a clear homage to the work of Ralph Steadman and Hunter Thompson, are little cartoons I have been doing during those moments when you say to yourself ' what the actual F**k ??!!' which can happen a lot in this job !! the original set of sketchbook thumbnails were each revised for the publication and have always proved a great hit in their own right whenever they have gone on display at exhibition . Now in the 11th year of ongoing production, the series now consists of over 200 hundred images depicting recollections or reflections from Working Corporate positions in 2000 -my first pop up gallery ' The Arts Hole in Cornwall '2006- 'The Green Star House ' Design and build Project 2009- through the political and legal battles of the 'Valerio Institute'2013- to our most recent projects of ' Why Not ' in Amsterdam and the latest ART B&B and education projects running in parallel in Cornwall u.k and Amsterdam N.L 2016/2017 It Really has been quite a ride