A six word short story…
I had a funny experience when I caught the last tube home on Friday night - a group of people tried to adopt me into their merry throng.
We shared a few laughs along the journey and I disappeared when we arrived at our destination with the excuse that I had to see my girlfriend early the next morning. Very nice guys. That’s one of the few benefits to alcohol I guess; all inhibitions are thrown to the wind.
We went back to the Medici Gallery displaying Graeme Wilcox’s works again this weekend and I bought a booklet with his prints.
His current works all depict people looking distressed, pensive or exhausted in one form or another, and evoke deep emotions. And while I’m sure it would be easy to find all of his pieces slightly bleak - there’s something about them I find slightly propitious - maybe it’s just because I can relate though.
Even in this painting (my favourite of the current pieces displayed in the gallery) titled “Hitchhiker”, depicting an exhausted businessman holding his arm out with his thumb pointing down, his eyes closed and his head cocked wearily to one side, yet he’s still standing tall. Which reminds me all too clearly of the businessmen in Moorgate waiting for busses at the end of the day. There’s something extremely uplifting about it. I imagine a businessman who burnt out a long time ago, still managing to be fantastic at his job, just carrying on each day with nothing changing. Okay - that doesn’t exactly sound very uplifting, but there’s something there and it’s extremely beautiful.
Today I went to see The 300 at the Imax in Waterloo with my girlfriend, Oleg and his girlfriend. It was an incredible experience seeing this film on such a huge screen and I’d definitely recommend it. While the film won’t change your life, it is brilliant and extremely well made.
March 26th, 2007 at 9:52 am
I agree with your comments about Wilcox’s artwork. Whilst I feel the strong emotions the images produce, it’s moreso Wilcox’s ability to take what is seemingly a simple image of an individual and turn it into something much richer. A lot of what you see in his paintings *isn’t really there*. That’s the magic of art.
300 is a great movie and should be seen on the Big Screen. I loved its epic nature. I particularly thought it played with the myth/legend theme very well.
It’s been a while since we saw some real magic.
April 1st, 2007 at 7:57 pm
300 is excellent. Well worth seeing.