David Hockney: Bigger & Closer (not Smaller & Further Away)

The schedule this January has been a little too packed to allow me time for my usual trip to Top Drawer this week. However I did happily pop out to see the David Hockney exhibition 'Bigger & Closer (not Smaller & Further Away)' that has come to Manchester's Factory International. 

Some of the new style immersive shows have come under criticism for offering a pastiche of the original art. With this however Hockney himself narrates the work and walks you through his thought processes whilst explaining some aspects of art theory in a compelling way. Having been lucky to view his work in person over the years (Salts Mill visit) I appreciated the story telling and being reminded of some of my own early art. Just as interesting as the work itself was watching the audience responses to it. The timing of the viewing on a very cold, icy and dark January week is something to note - views of lush scenery, warm sunshine and lux swimming pools can be refreshing for the soul, it seems others would agree with tickets selling out.

DAVID HOCKNEY: BIGGER & CLOSER | EMILY HAUCK KARIKA NOVA

 

clockwise from the top left: sunshine from one of his later works on the ipad, a view of the most famous painting 'the splash' sold in 2020 for $29.8 million, hockney himself, view of the immersive experience audience, one of my faves 'pearblossom highway' made from multiple photographs, 'may blossom on the open road', finally an immersive interpretation of the pool series.

Florentine in France

Apologies for the sporadic postings this autumn. Last year we were in Lapland with some fab photos, this year we're on with a building project which means I've had a little less time for the day to day potterings on the socials. 

It's an absolute joy when lovely people spot my cards in far off places - here is the Florentine French collection in a gorgeous Papeterie, Cancale, France! 🇫🇷 There's exciting news coming for the UK Florentine collection in January and am very much looking forward to sharing it and other fab new projects in the New Year with you 😊✉️💌 

Oh and who saw the Turner Prize announcement last night! Jasleen Kaur wins 2024! 

FLORENTINE IN FRANCE | EMILY HAUCK KARIKA NOVA

above clockwise from the top left: cards from the florentine french collection designed for kiub - seen here is the owl, the papeterie in cancale, florentine garden window and tree designs, the mountain bike, so want to nosey in those postcard racks, the presents designs from the florentine collection.

Turner Prize 2024

Ooh apologies for the lateness of this post. It had been in my plan to be on the Karika journal in September after the holidays but it has been whirlwind in the studio here both finishing the Christmas and Everyday collections whilst building a new studio space. Happily in the middle of it I did manage to pop out last month to the Tate and see this year's Turner Prize!
Complete with giant concrete jewellery, Irn-Bru, a red ford escort with a doily on top and blood red footprints 2024's Turner Prize lives up to it's bold memorable cultural statements that we have come to expect. Claudette Johnson's portraits had an unfortunate position at the end where they felt a little overlooked after the bold clashes of Kaur and the busy work of Le Bas. My favourites were the drawings by Pio Abad, incredibly detailed with purposeful themes. The Turner Prize is on show at the Tate until the 16th of February, winner to be announced on the 3rd of December 2024.

TURNER PRIZE 2024 | EMILY HAUCK KARIKA NOVA

above clockwise from the top left: pio abad's exhibition space where the giant concrete jewellery can be seen, a piece seen on the way into the prize by hew locke - vita veritas victoria, a view of kaur's space with the giant persian rug, the famous red ford escort complete with giant doily by kaur, a snip of le bas painted fabrics, then a swatch of the paintwork from the alvaro barrington exhibition next door.

MMU Degree Shows 2024

Well it's been a packed month in the studio here so I'm sharing my fab visit to the Manchester Degree Shows a little later than planned. Similar to last year's visit (see here), summer is in full swing so as is traditional in greetings it's contrastingly wintery Christmas scenes in the studio. In between drawing robins and baubles I popped out to see the Manchester Metropolitan University & Manchester School of Art degree shows. I've dropped some fave pieces from Fine Art, Fine Art & Art History, Textiles in Practice, on the board below. Fascinating themes coming through where natural materials and organic form/process is put in high contrast against the digital world both in physical form of smart phones/tech and then the virtual thoughts of slogans or flags. Generally much softer colours, reflective maybe? Great to see the work of GFSmith's Portal project up on the walls (more in depth look here). Too many favourites to share here so I may follow up soon with a part two.

MMU DEGRESS SHOWS 2024 | EMILY HAUCK KARIKA NOVA

clockwise from the top left: 

neutral natural looking dye colours and fabrics in a piece called 'a duck swam from san francisco to portugal and never got wet' by madeleine calloway vietmeier ba(hons) fine art - instagram, 

i loved this piece in the holden gallery showing the high contrast between the spaces we inhabit and the technology that now lives there - unfortunately none of the pieces in the holden gallery were labelled and i haven't been able to find the artist elsewhere - please drop a comment if you know, 

can imagine this next piece made up of dozens of smartphones would be anxiety inducing for some - unfortunately as with the previous I'm unable to locate the artist, 

one of ba (hons) fine art and art history bethany royle's  pieces inspired by pictures of home life - bethany's instagram, 

the fabulous portal collab project by gfsmith on display here, 

another piece i'm frustratingly unable to identify (please sort this for next year guys!) with an interesting thought for the day 'oh dear how awful what a shame i'm sorry tea?',  

loved these flags made using natural materials by bertie (bear) thomas ba (hons) fine art - berties instagram, 

absolutely loved this note book of fabric swatches dyed with organic materials by ellen deane winner of the global challenges award in ba (hons) textiles in practice.

#mmu #degreeshows #manchesterschoolofart #manchester #manchestermetropolitanuniversity #2024

Animula Spring Bowl Workshop

A delightful step out of the urban city for me this week to the beautiful Didsbury Parsonage for the Animula Spring Bowl workshop hosted by lovely Róisín. I spend a lot of time drawing flowers so I appreciated the opportunity to work with them and learn the art of events floristry. 

Similar to the japanese ikebana technique where the kensan is used, I learnt how to create an arrangement using sculpted chicken wire. This approach allows the arrangements to be much larger in scale. There is certainly a knack to it, it can be tricky to balance as it doesn't have the weight of the kensan keeping it grounded which is where a little bit of taping helps. It is impressive the kind of arrangements that can be created with this wire technique. All the equipment can be reused and the gorgeous hedgerow flowers are locally sourced by Róisín.

In these workshops Róisín touches on an important theme I'm finding in recent pursuits (e.g. GFSmith Vinyl) where in an increasingly frenetic digital world the time we use physically creating, touching and interacting with tactile materials offers an antidote. In addition the meditative 'flow state' of focused minds playing with flowers is food for the soul.

If you like the sound of that, and would like to be the first to know about future workshops, sign up to Róisín's newsletter. Friends are always the first to know and have early access to tickets.

ANIMULA SPRING BOWL WORKSHOP | EMILY HAUCK KARIKA NOVA

clockwise from the top left: róisín at work in the didsbury parsonage, the tasty and beautiful canapes róisín made, the start of my arrangement with the wire in the bowl, my floral arrangement, the ceramic bowl made by philip scott art, chickenwire secateurs flowers and the necessary protective gloves, folk candles and plates by bonfire pottery of which im a proud owner of a green one,

#workshop #class #create #creativity #floristry #flowers #mcr #manchester #manchesterflorist #sustainablefloristry #britishflowers #grownnotflown #ceramics #pottery #wellbeing

RHS Urban

I'm a keen gardener so I was super excited to see the new Urban show the Royal Horticultural Society brought to Manchester in April. I've been a frequent visitor to RHS gardens and shows - Chelsea, Tatton, Bridgewater, Bodnant. With a very different vibe to the other shows the focus at RHS Urban was on house plants, small urban scapes and balcony spaces. Inside the cavernous industrial Manchester setting of Mayfield Depot we were treated to blossoming towers of flowers, tall forest trees, suspended orchids, seedling sprout farms, mossariums, mushrooms grown in hanging macrame in abundance. I even spotted Tine Tempah down by the Gin bar! I hope the show will return in the future and we can look forward to some more big ideas work from the RHS.

RHS URBAN | EMILY HAUCK KARIKA NOVA

clockwise from the top left: inspirational bathroom ideas by blue diamond, slightly ironic sign about low light tolerant plants - as everything was indoors (unique to this show) however inspiring it was actually quite difficult to see the colours and textures of the plants in such low lighting, absolutely loved this project mushroom space by caley brothers complete with mushroom macrame, textural immersion floral installation by hannah clark founder of the bud and pot, art piece part of the mayfield botanical pattern book exhibition, orchid display, moss and life cycle designed by marcin ruta and claire page founders of moss clerks.

Colorplan Vinyl: A Journey through Colour and Sound

Plenty on the go in the city at the moment with Manchester providing a perfect urban back drop to some super creative events. Excitingly I was invited to the GFSmith's Colorplan Vinyl launch party at SOUP . Ahead of the Record Store Day, much loved by us Mancunians, creative music studio Father translated the colours of the famous GFSmith paper collection Colorplan (a view of the papers in my post here from an earlier event) into sound waves to make a fantastic special edition vinyl, Portal. A collaboration with design students of the Manchester School of Art created vinyl covers which fully explored the tactile, vibrant, tangible nature of the paper, print & vinyl mediums. For those not lucky enough to receive a vinyl there is an inspiring listen here. An important thought expressed from this event that resonates with me is how rewarding, fulfilling and restorative it is to take time out of the digital fog putting creativity into the actual. 

COLORPLAN VINYL: A JOURNEY THROUGH COLOUR AND SOUND | EMILY HAUCK KARIKA NOVA

clockwise from the top left: the vinyl covers on show at soup, ben watkinson global brand director gfmith, the transparent!! vinyl record, a view of ishita garg's vinyl cover, a close up of harley whitney's cover @harleyjwdesign, a poster view of the student cover entries, close up of the portal vinyl seen here on the notpla paper.

#gfsmith #gfsmithpapers #colorplan #vinyl #portal #soupmanchester #manchesterschoolofart #father