Art & Design

Stephen Powell

17 May ’12
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Sketchbook, Stephen Powell

We know that you like them and we know we have kept you waiting, but the videos from the March Assessment event are coming. Here OCA tutor Alexis Stevens looks at the sketchbook of Stephen Powell who studied the Painting 2 – Exploring Concepts course.

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Mondrian teas off the menu at the Courtauld

6 May ’12
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Mondrian teas off the menu at the Courtauld

Another successful OCA study visit ended without the Mondrian teas advertised in the cafe. Still, the exhibition offered a lot of food for thought. OCA Art History tutor David Knapp, who led the group, offers us an insight to the exhibition. Mondrian’s primary colours shone against white backgrounds, Nicholson’s crisply carved white reliefs blazed...

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Hans Peter Feldman at The Serpentine Gallery

4 May ’12
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Hans Peter Feldman at The Serpentine Gallery

I had the very great pleasure to visit the new Hans Peter Feldman exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery recently. It is open until June 5th. Feldman’s output shares many themes with my own and so I had the usual,’ I wish I had done that moments as I went round as well as the...

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From both sides of the fence

4 May ’12
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From both sides of the fence

Some time has passed since my travels around the country last month, which coincidentally, made me look at Textiles from both sides of the fence, and here I’m reflecting on those experiences.  First stop,  Barnsley for  the OCA Textile Tutors Development Day, very stimulating and helpful plus lovely to meet not only other tutors,...

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What is contemporary art?

3 May ’12
By
Sheila McGregor on Contemporary Art

Its a bold person who can articulate a sense of what art is in the 21st century, with no notes and with authority. Sheila McGregor, one might argue, should be well placed to do this, as Chief Executive of Axis, the online resource for contemporary art. She does it remarkably well. Click on the...

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OCA MA Fine Art students talk about life, art and the MA

30 Apr ’12
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MA Fine Art Student Jo Keeley

Two OCA MA Fine Art students talk about the reasons they opted for the MA, the practical considerations of studying art from home, and a bit about their art work too! Thanks to Joanne Keeley and Jennifer Mawby (Jennifer came all the way from Vancouver to take part in this year’s MA workshop). Introducing...

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Study visit to Picasso and modern British Art

26 Apr ’12
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Study visit to Picasso and modern British Art

Students and tutors assembled at Tate Britain to see ‘Picasso and Modern British Art’, the latest must see exhibition in London which is generating interest among discerning visitors. This exhibition looks at a selection of British artists who had been influenced or inspired by the work of Picasso and in so doing provides us...

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Sarah's story

25 Apr ’12
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Sarah's story

When tutor James Willis drew my attention to some exceptional portraits by Sarah Youseman from her Practice of Painting course, I wanted to know more. What she told me struck me as something many OCA students would identify with and so worth sharing here: ‘Having become an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers...

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Christian talks us through the Visual Communications degree

24 Apr ’12
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Christian introduces the Visual Communications degree pathway, and explains the structure and content of the courses. Visual Communications Degree from Open College of the Arts on Vimeo.

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A platform for contemporary artists

23 Apr ’12
By
sheila

Here is Sheila McGregor talking about the organization AXIS, the online resource for and about contemporary artists. Sheila talks about some of the artists her organisation promotes, and explains why artist statements are important, but flannel is not! Sheila McGregor on the Art Business from Open College of the Arts on Vimeo.

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Taming St George

23 Apr ’12
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StGeorge

Uccello's painting of George and the dragon appears to depict a male hero coming to the rescue of a maiden in distress. But does the composition of the painting belie this reading? Is the maiden taming the dragon successfully herself, without the need for St George to intervene? Writers including the poet...

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A car crash of an exhibition

16 Apr ’12
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A car crash of an exhibition

“You seem to have started with the final act, my dear” Lucian Freud is said to have remarked on seeing Damian Hirst’s ‘A Thousand Years’ (1990) which he made a year after leaving Goldsmiths College of Art. This artwork consists of two joined glass vitrines in which a life and death cycle is being...

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