Delicartessen

Christmas Exhibition 2011

2011-12-21T08:23:00.000-08:00

Joseph Pearces Bar, 23 Elm Row. Edinburgh. Sunday 18th Dec 2011 12pm - 15th February 2012.

I don’t know about you, but the truth is that among lunar eclipses, gloomy economic forecasts and home-grown hurricanes, the Bawbag affair put a smile on my face.
Call it Scottish idiosyncrasy or pure banter, but turning a negative into a positive, dark into light, tragedy into comedy, seems to be an art in itself.
An art that is priceless in times like these.
Artists can often practise it and have a laugh at the surrounding world because their creations exist “per se”. They are not subject to the laws of the demand. And thank goodness for that!
And one who’s really been about turning dark into light, literally, is Saint Lucia , who’s just passed marking the point where we get a minute of extra light per day.
So there are other reasons to smile.
Dagmar’s new humorous works, where colourful, oversize insects, butterflies and frogs have been superimposed onto gloomy cuttings of this year’s news are like a chronicle of the year we are about to leave behind. But with a funny twist.
Again, call it self-indulgence or idiosyncrasy…
Or a breath of fresh, hurricane air!

Vanessa Davila 07986595585
vanessa@delicartessen.co.uk

Join us for the launch of our Christmas exhibition, this Sunday 18th of December at Joseph Pearce’s Bar, 23 Elm Row, Edinburgh.
Between 12 pm and 1 pm.
Prices start at £26 and we’ll be giving away a free limited edition mug with every purchase.
Only this Sunday.
With best wishes for Christmas and the Year ahead.

No One's Land: An Encounter of Spanish and Scottish culture, past and present through art

2011-08-18T07:43:00.000-07:00

This is the newsletter sent to our clients on the event of our annual exhibition at the Gladstone Land Gallery, in the Royal Mile. For the second year in a row, Delicartessen secured funding from the Spanish Consulate in Edinburgh to celebrate an encounter of Spanish and Scottish art.

The exhibition was, after conclusion of the week, transferred to Joseph Pearces, our regular venue, in Elm Row, as part of our Edinburgh Festival exhibition 2011, where it would stay until mid September.

"No One´s Land"
The Gladstone Land Gallery, The Royal Mile. Edinburgh. 1st -8th August 2011. 10 am till 7 pm.

A few months ago I attended a conference by Marjorie Trusted from the V&A Museum in London, organised by the Spanish Consulate in Edinburgh.
It explored the fascination of Picasso for Velazquez and his painting of “Las Meninas” (which Velázquez had originally painted in 1656 and Picasso would reinterpret 300 years later). The talk highlighted Picasso’s motto that in art, little is original or new, and it provided renewed inspiration for this exhibition, which pays tribute to the circularity of cultural iconography; where symbols and images are repeatedly recycled over time.
Picasso was, in his days, accused of being “all over the place”; a “chameleon” absorbing other artist’s influences and styles but lacking his own. But he would argue that this need for belonging to a movement or school was limiting.
His rootless nature was probably related to an emotional “middle place” too: where he felt quite alienated from his country of origin as the authoritative regime took its course in Spain; yet still a foreigner in his adoptive and beloved France. No sense of belonging here or there. In No One’s Land.
He affirmed that “art is the elimination of the unnecessary” and in his search for simplicity he kept reducing reality, emptying the superfluous and transcending the idea of belonging to achieve universality.

“No One’s Land” echoes themes of land and identity and therefore, we present representations of the artists’ immediate realities. Yet, even when differences emerge (i.e. Highland cows as opposed to bulls) the common nature of the themes that arise among both Scottish and Spanish artists, the new reinterpretations of classical themes: (i.e. Las Meninas, still being revisited by artists near and afar); reaffirms this idea of “no one’s land” or, if you prefer, “common land”, in the sense that the relevant human emotions and reflections that fuel the arts inscribe in a universal language. A language that Picasso spoke loudly and clearly. And which still resonates to this day.

With the support of the Spanish Consulate in Edinburgh, Tapa Restaurants and the Council of Alhaurin, Malaga.
Click here to download a pdf version of the printed catalogue.

The advertisement announcing the exhibition at the

Edinburgh Festival magazine.

Compliments of ellustration.net designs.

Aftermath: Still Life. Photographs by Neil Macmillan

2011-05-14T06:24:00.000-07:00

This is the newsletter sent to our contacts for the celebration of our 4th anniversary and the launch of our new exhibition at Joseph Pearce's:

...I’ve always wondered why in art you often have to choose between images and words. They say that an image is worth more than a thousand words but I recently saw an exhibition which combined both to great effect.

And the same applies to visuals and music. As Picasso said “To draw you have to close your eyes and sing” and many great artists have been great music lovers too. I am now remembering an article by Tim Cornwell that I read recently in the Scotsman about John Campbell Mitchell’s studio, which had been left untouched for 80 years and included a couple of pianos because apart from being an accomplished painter he was very keen on music too.

And music can compress a lifetime in a second, take us back to a previous moment… suspend us in time. Doing acoustically what a still life achieves visually.

Neil’s photographs are lost in time, still life impressions of derelict houses he found in the West coast of Scotland, the Outer Hebrides and the Highlands, during a very meaningful family journey. As he says: “Many of these pictures were taken on a final holiday with my dad who was in the last stages of cancer at the time. Despite the sadness of the trip, it was also filled with moments of happiness too as my dad truly loved Scotland and we saw the best of it on this trip."

His images speak (without any need for words) about the pass of time, human frailty and possibly even war. Houses abandoned in a rush, left in the spur of the moment, maybe with a promise of a return (like a kettle still waiting on the stove…) exactly like John Campbell’s studio. They tell (silently) about Neil’s personal story of a farewell journey and his coming to terms with an announced loss. But they are also “still life impressions” in the literal sense that, no matter what, life always renews itself. Like birds nesting in an abandoned chest of drawers and Nature claiming back what is hers and closing a circle that includes birth and death. As Picasso also said. “Every act of creation is first an act of destruction”.

So when I heard Phamie Gow’s “War Song” by chance, it sounded like Neil’s photographs…it was the perfect acoustic complement for the exhibition. I went back home and listened to the composer's reflections on Moments of Time, and felt that both, images and music were talking loudly the same truth, so why not have both?

I am pleased to invite you to our 4th anniversary celebration and the launch of our new exhibition:

Aftermath: Still Life with photographs by Neil Macmillan

This Sunday 8th of May from 11.30am till 1pm at Joseph Pearce’s Bar. 23 Elm Row, Edinburgh.
Complemented with music by Phamie Gow and Moments of Time

I hope to see you there!

This is a video featuring the photographs included in the exhibition, with music by Phamie Gow played during our launch. Phamie joined us for the preview and was a delightful guest.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9j46InzypM

The exhibition will be on show at Joseph Pearce's bar, 23 Elm Row, Edinburgh, until the 30th of June and listed as part of the activities of the Leith Festival 2011.

Sea life, City life

2011-03-22T09:37:00.001-07:00

Sometimes things appear to have nothing in common, or even to be opposites at first sight. Natural vs. urban spaces, day and night… Moreover, as humans, we have been fascinated by the apparent duality and conflicting nature of our world from the beginnings of the time. Yet, as things unfold and we look more carefully, we often find links and relations under the surface.

So, what is the link between Scottish artist Christine Morison’s driftwood mirrors and clocks; and German artists Dagmar Shilling's paintings on urban night life?
It's not only a “c” sound, although it's through a metaphor and words that this show ties together.

Christine’s pieces pay tribute to the slow, almost imperceptible but constant crafting effect of the sea and the passing of time and they are full of shells, and natural elements; while Dagmar's urban, fast, mixed media scenes, pick up in images where the English language refers to animalistic, sea-inspired creatures to depict nightlife scenes. So, she has taken expressions like “to drink like a fish” literally and transformed them into pieces where fish or octopus looking creatures feel in their element in the city. And Dagmar’s, “what goes around, comes around” emphasises the recycled nature of Christine’s pieces.

And what has gone around and comes around again is “The Colour Red” photographic exhibition.
After winning the BHF annual competition with her photography “The Tunnel”, Gillian Hayes has proven she’s got what it takes to become a “big fish” in the photography scene.

Her work illustrates the duality of our rational and irrational nature. An interest that was exposed in early mythology through the metaphor of the Master and the Slave, where reason is the master, destined to exercise a firm control over the dangerous emotional impulses dictated by the body.
This vision assumed the superiority of reason before passion, as the latter was seen as a more primitive, animalistic trait, associated with the body; needing to be controlled through superior reason.
From that point of view both elements would be in constant conflict. As if again, natural (instinctive) and human (rational) forces were to be in a constant struggle. This conflicting duality characterized the ideas of Descartes while in the XVIII century, the Scottish philosopher Hume, the highest exponent of the Empiricism movement, affirmed that emotion was somehow made by the same “material” as rational thinking: -the origin and game of passion is subjected to a regular mechanism; and therefore passions are as susceptible of exact analysis as the laws of movement-
And Gillian’s collection seems like a Scottish contemporary re-interpretation of Hume’s ideas: 14 photographs where the notion of passion, represented by the colour red, is measured and controlled in quantities that vary from 1% to 95%; combining the photographer's creative talent with her precise technique.
By controlling the amount of red in every picture, she has achieved a little “whole” in each one of them, where none is pure energy, neither pure technique nor reason, but a beautiful combination of the two. Just like us.

Because today we generally accept that we are a combination of both, reason and passion, heart and mind, and we no longer live them as antagonist forces. We are back to Plato, who already defended that the rational and irrational ingredients of our nature are the two necessary sides of the same coin.
We celebrate both sides of our nature and believe in a healthy balance between them as the key for emotional intelligence, and happiness.

So bring on the opposites and dualities: The deep sea of emotions tempered by the neon lights of reason.
Join us this Sunday 20th March for a double act:

3.30 - 5.30 pm the launch of Sea life, City life at Joseph Pearce’s, 23 Elm Row, Edinburgh
And 6-9 pm for the return of The Colour Red exhibition at Sofi’s Bar, Henderson Street, Edinburgh

I hope to see you there!!

"Balancing Act" by Dagmar Schilling, £300

"Small Boat" mirror by Christine Morison £50

The Exhibitions run until the 30th of April.

Opening Times.
Joseph Pearces Bar, 23 Elm Row, EH7 4AA Edinburgh
Opening times: Sun-Thu 11:00-00:00
Fri-Sat 11:00-01:00
Sofi's Bar, 65 Henderson Street, EH6 6ED
Mon - Sat: 12:00 - 1:00
Sun: 13:00 - 1:00

There is Heart at the end of the Tunnel...

2011-02-15T06:33:00.000-08:00

"The Tunnel" Winner of the British Heart Foundation Photographic Competition.
Artist: Gillian Hayes
(exhibited as part of "The Colour Red" exhibition at Joseph Pearce's Bar between August 2010 and February 2011)

Every once in a while a piece of work speaks to me. It might be that I'm
wandering round a book shop when I feel a tap on the shoulder. I turn
and nobody's there. But then I look up to find some words are flying in
the air and I know that I'm taking that book home. There is an important
message waiting in those pages.

But it's all too personal, and what speaks to me may well tell you
nothing at all.
There is always the shadow of a doubt when selecting art for an
audience. Independent of its technicality and accomplishment in terms of
measurable talent, to me it is in its meaning that its true value
resides. In its ability to speak and resonate for days, or even years;
Or in its opening a door to a revelation that seems to have been forging in your mind over aeons. As if coming from a previous life.
Like a sudden click. Yet, it feels like a gamble, every time.

That is why I was slightly surprised when photographer Gillian Hayes
approved of my writing a very personal interpretation of her work for
the newsletter.

"The Colour Red" photographs spoke to me from the start. She had seemed
to summarize in 14 shots a passage of transit, a journey to reconcile
mind and heart as in sense and sensibility, inspiration and work. They
spoke to me about the blending effect of cultural encounters, that
things are often not black or white but something in-between. They spoke
to me for days about the changes in my perception, having lived in
Britain for 8 years; and even longer about issues on identity, diversity
and equality.
They even spoke about the transition from multiculturalism (where
identities are taken as fixed and immutable objects) to interculturalism
(where ideas of oneself and the other are in continuous transformation
thanks to our constant interactions) that I had witnessed while
researching for a Phd. All in 14 shots and all in just one click.

But then, these photographs went on to speak to other people. People
with other experiences and backgrounds and perspectives; and one of them
"The Tunnel" has won the first prize at the British Heart Foundation
Competition. For the artist, the prize means well-deserved recognition.
To me, the subtle triumph of a piece of work transcending the personal
and tapping into a universal truth. One that exceeds the barriers of
language, culture, age and class. That's the power of art in its
multiple forms, in images and in words. As in these by the artist
describing her piece:

"The service tunnel, an area mainly unseen and hidden in the depths of a
building, full of pipes, wires and gizmos endlessly and faithfully
chugging away to keep the building running smoothly above. This reminded
me of the role of our heart, which also works endlessly and faithfully
away in our bodies without rest, to keep everything in check."

Simple, yet meaningful words and an image that spoke loudly. And which, it
happens every once in a while, were widely heard.

Mini Christmas Fair at the Village

2010-12-14T09:10:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday 12th of December 2010 we took part in a Small indoors Christmas Fair at the Village, South Fort Street, Leith.

The lovely lounge of the Village was filled with hand-made, enviromentally friendly pressies provided by small local businesses and starting at £2.
There were 5 stalls and items for sale included home preserves, natural beauty products, bespoke, vintage cake stands, cards, recycled bottles and jewellery, etchings and prints.

We also had home cooked spinach & smoked salmon croquettes & spanish tortilla to welcome the visitors who, despite the weather, braved the conditions to come to see us.

We hope it will turn into a regular, monthly event for 2011 where "art can be the meeting point" at the (local) Village.

Festival Exhibition 2010 Newsletter: "The Colour Red"

2010-08-22T08:45:00.000-07:00

Starting, Sunday 22nd August 2010 11 am-12.30pm
Above: "15% Red" by Gillian Hayes

When Gillian presented me with “The Colour Red” series, my heart skipped a beat.
I could immediately relate to red as a colour of passion and energy, the Spanish football team and this warm summer. On the other hand, red is the colour of blood, violence and destruction. However the significance and relevance of this collection of 14 photographs where the power of red is measured and restrained went beyond this.

When the World Cup started I was agonising with the game of the Spaniards…”kick…tackle…shoot!”
My “red”, temperamental side was struggling to understand what I judged (or misjudged) as a lack of energy and strength. I saw their technical “pass and move” game as weak. It was an English friend who then insisted that “they will go all the way”. To me, it was as if, paradoxically, the English and other teams showed the passion that my fellow citizens were missing. I could relate more to that style of game and what journalist Tom Lappin called a “primitive approximation to football”. It felt as if the red team was more tempered, more “British” in their approach… as if they had swapped their cultural stereotypes. I instinctively reacted against that patient, technical game. And so did some British citizens, as Lappin pointed out “BBC sports commentators remain deeply suspicious of anything that looks like patience, delicacy or thought”.
Well, so did I!
What amazed me was finding these qualities “out of context” or “in the other team” which suggested that things are never black or white or, as in this case, red and black.

On the other hand, this colour brought ideas of aggression to mind, a past that if you’re Spanish, you can’t dissociate from red. The colour of the blood spilled in a conflict that often confronted members of the same family and that, like blood cells of an open wound, stays alive in the memory, and often expresses through art.

Red also reminded me of the blood of that noble animal, the bull, which has shared the Iberian landscape from the beginnings of time. And despite red being movement and energy, when it came to bullfighting, in my mind it only reinforced aspects of brutality, blindly anchored in the safeguards of tradition. Like a vestige of the very same cruel nature that had allowed a civil war to tear a country apart.

Then, only a few days after I had taken Gillians’ project under my wing, and a few months after we had put on an exhibition that showed beautiful bulls without the fight; comfortable and powerful in their own land, the “party” was forbidden in Barcelona as the result of public vote.

Something seemed to move. The energy dimension of red suddenly triumphed over the aggressive, darker one.

All in all, an exhibition that negotiates passion with reason, intensity with measure…echoes previous reflections about the balance between the right and left hand side of the brain, sense and sensibility, mind and heart.

To me, it also talks about a journey, all that is Spanish or British and everything in between. A place where both opposite sides have a place and a time. Where we can meet halfway and find a bit of ourselves in the “other team”.

Join me this Sunday and find your own place between the 1% and 95% red progression of these stunning 14 photographs by Gillian Hayes.

"New Values" Exhibition in Zaragoza, Spain

2010-06-15T08:10:00.000-07:00

In June 2010 Delicartessen took 7 British artstis to a joint exhibition with Galeria Artelibre, Zaragoza, Spain. A sample of the best emerging talent to be found in these shores.

Images in poster: "Hector de Heroe" (inspired by a famous traditional tune for fiddle) by Rosie Newman, and "The Boatyard" by Jacqui Higgs.

Left: "Siberian Irises" by Gillian Smith

Leith Festival 2010 "Flower Power: A Tribute & an Invocation"

2010-06-02T06:20:00.000-07:00

Icelandic singer, Björk, had sang a lullaby live to help the volcano go to sleep and it seemed to have worked... So in June 2010 we were doing our bit and launching an exhibition to invoke all forces of nature for a summer of sunshine on Leith!
This collective exhibition inspired by and for nature, brought together stunning flower photographs by Liz Tainsh and bold paintings by Sarah Roberts. From the intricate and delicate etchings of Enrique Cid to the exuberant blossom of Ritchie Collins, there was something for every taste...and every pocket: with prices starting at £55 for a limited edition etching.

To celebrate the Leith Festival we offered a 10% off everything on show until the 20th of June.

Reinventing...in images

2010-05-01T09:01:00.000-07:00

This beautiful XVII century building hosted an encounter between Scottish and Spanish art.

The exibition proved that, despite the artists’ diverse cultural
background and geographical distance, a visual vocabulary can sometimes meet halfway.
Shoes, horses, bulls, dancers, musicians, castles...were some of the emblematic and powerful images that seem to survive the passing of time but are continually reinvented and reinterpreted through art.

It's all about bulls...reinvented.

Image on left: "Matador" by Elise Chisholm

"We love Elise’s “animal-friendly” bullfighting scenes. They still contain this emblematic, culturally-charged icon of Spanish culture, but animal and human are depicted in a much more balanced way than in traditional bullfighting scenes.
Bulls have always been present in Spanish art. From the bulls painted by pre-historic “artists” in The Altamira Caves, in Northern Spain; to those depicted by Goya; or Picasso’s Guernica and The Bull. Not to mention the oversized bulls logos of a well-known sherry brand, looming on the horizon of Spanish hills (as featured so memorably in Bigas Luna’s Jamón Jamón)
But these new take on an all familiar subject not only reflects the general British sensibility on the theme; but also an emerging voice among a generation of younger Spaniards who, while being proud of bulls, are not so proud of bullfighting"

Image above: "Bull Run" by Elise Chisholm.

We wrote this only 2 months before bull-fighting was forbidden in Barcelona as the result of public vote...

Below, the beautiful hand-painted ceiling of the exhibition space

In the center of the table, carnations and thystles representing the Spanish-Scottish connection.

And below, the view from the building

onto the Royal Mile

Easter 2010: Reinventing Cultural Iconography

2010-03-25T08:15:00.000-07:00

Image left: "Quijote" by Enrique Cid

Between Monday 29th of March and Sunday 4th of April , we held an exhibition at The Gladstone Land Gallery, in the Royal Mile, Edinburgh, with the collaboration of the Spanish Consulate in Edinburgh.

Below: "Summer Bull" by Adriana Sanchez.

The newsletter/invitation to the private preview, read like this:

Behind Every Shoe lies a Human Truth...
Our minds work with images, and images precede words. That’s why Dr. Iain R. Edgar, who lectures at Durham University, started using a pioneer research methodology to interview people. “Imagework” encourages subjects to use their imagination and create visual images about different situations. This allows them to engage the right side of their brain; where our values, perceptions and unconscious associations reside.

As a research methodology it has proven to be highly successful. However, it is one of his collateral findings that resonate within the background of this exhibition. He realised that as humans we share a range of visual images irrespective of our individual experience. As if we were all equipped with a visual vocabulary that has been forged over aeons of evolution. It is what anthropologists’ study in relation to myths and psychoanalysts use to interpret our dreams and other unconscious expressions of our minds.

As an example, he found that train journeys were common metaphors for “transit”, “process”, “movement” and “growth”. These and other images remind us that, despite diversity of life in a complex world, we are all rooted in a common place: by the human condition.

In the exhibition, hosted in a beautiful 17th Century Merchant’s House, there are bulls as perceived by Scottish artists and reinterpreted by Spanish ones since Goya. It offers an interesting sample of culturally meaningful references that will expose difference and commonality.

What lies beyond Rosie Newman’s and Marta Ratti’s fascination with shoes, might be what they both associate with them: their childhood, their kids’ early steps, or growth, perhaps.
But what fascinates us, is what all those images tell. That despite all our differences and distances, there is a common land for humankind, where we can be closer, even in subconscious ways.

And to prove it…here is a shoe.

Image: "Ballerina Shoes" by Marta Ratti

I would like to thank Mr. Federico Palomera, Spanish Consul in Edinburgh, and Professor Iain R. Edgar, who came all the way from Durham, for their attendance to our private preview.

"Love of Art": Newsletter & Exhibition

2010-02-10T10:18:00.000-08:00

By the end of January 2010 we sent this newsletter announcing the launch of our "Love of Art" exhibition on the 14th of February.
It was also the first Newsletter of 2010:

"Some say that this will be a year for learning...
and finding some truths about ourselves, and that, under the influx of Saturn, those lessons will come at a price.
X-Factor finalist Joe was singing “it’s not about getting there quickly, but only about getting there” again and again over Christmas and so, I adopted learning and hard work as my New Year resolutions.
Now, with St Valentines round the corner I’ve remembered that I recently asked someone very close about his love success, and he said…”I’ve learnt to be wary of anything that comes too easily and doesn’t involve hard work”.

Having heard friends many times mention “hard work” when talking about difficult relationships, his words provided a different perspective on the term and I thought that in art, as in love, the Lady Gaga’s “wanting everything as long as it’s free” can only leads us to a “bad romance”. That both, love and art, need a combination of vision and determination, attraction, but also hard work.

So after the right hand side of the brain has done its part, provided the intuition and inspiration; it’s time for the left hand side to come into action and add a plan. Here comes finding the materials, the drive and the time to solve the gap between ideal and material. Or as Michael Bubble would sing it: “to work to work it out”. In other words, to overcome the distance between platonic and real, and in doing so, to deal with the limitations of it all because, as Anne Klauser says, “who wants to create nothing but perfection, creates nothing”.

But then, for those who dare to take their chances, sometimes reality goes beyond fiction.
Last Sunday I witnessed a truly special moment when a friend sang Jason Mraz’s “I’m Yours” to his wife in their first anniversary.
The moment still resonates in my memory and so this Sunday, whatever lessons Saturn’s got lined up for the year ahead, I’ll be whistling, as the song goes, that “it might be again my turn to win some…or learn some”.
Join us this Sunday, St Valentines’ Day, to celebrate our artists’ hard work and a love of art!

Presenting Sophie Hamiltons’s quirky retro illustrations and Conchita Machlaughan’s advance of a Scottish-Spanish affair that will culminate in an Easter Exhibition.

Artmag Feb - March 2010

2010-02-01T07:13:00.000-08:00

December 09 Newsletter: I would wish you a white Christmas...

2009-12-15T10:10:00.000-08:00

...but white has never been my colour.
I never understood why in the Spanish IT consultancy where I used to work, we called those drafts with new ideas “white papers”. As if a fresh start wasn’t hard enough; facing a blank page (or canvas) called “white” emphasises that terrifying moment before anything takes place. The moment of nothing, the empty space, what is yet not there.
The whole idea of whiteness, in relation to creation, is just off putting.

Instead, I would like to focus on what is about to happen. And call them simply “ideas papers”, or “butterfly papers”, to encourage those ideas to fly. Or maybe, “dream papers” to bring in the lightness of what doesn’t necessarily have the pretension to become real. Or, better still, I’d call them “recycled papers” not because of their ecological value, but to stress the idea that pure originality doesn’t exist; that any new creation is actually re-creation and re-elaboration, drawing inspiration from the past.

So, while the “white paper” seems to be detached from the world, like an orphan, a beginning and an end in itself; bullying the shaking author with the written version of “if what you are about to say is not more beautiful than the silence, do not say it”; the recycled paper is warmly received into the world. It assumes its tiny place into the Universe, it puts the writer in their place and lightens up the burden of having to take that small but huge step of …CREATION.

And while the “white paper” gives you only the one chance, and demands a line at a time to make a perfect final piece; the recycled paper invites you to stain it, cross it out and, often, go back to the beginning and start anew. It is part of its circular charm, as mastered by outstanding creators like Picasso, who used to do dozens of drafts before arriving at a masterpiece.

So, like an artist friend who uses only second hand canvasses, I now try to use anything but white paper. I use the back of old shopping lists and bills. Outdated post-its and “to-do” lists: “lived paper” that is already part of the cycle. Borrowed paper or adopted paper, humble, unpretentious paper…even forgotten paper.

But no, never white paper.
So, when time comes, let me wish you a colourful Christmas instead!

The new exhibition at Joseph Pearce's Bar presented the warm, Mediterranean palette of artist Fee Dickson.

Artmag Dec 09

2009-12-01T06:54:00.000-08:00

In Christmas 09 Artmag published the suplement "Buy Art for Christmas" which featured one of Kate Lloyd's solder & acrylics fish.

Autumn 09 Newsletter & New Exhibition

2009-10-09T10:01:00.000-07:00

In October 2009 we sent this newsletter inviting everyone to attend the private preview of our new exhibiton on Sunday 11th:

Okay!! ...So it was not the summer that we all had expected. The crows were wrong, wrong, wrong. And so was the Met Office, which had forecasted a warm and dry summer.
Instead of a “BBQ summer” with temperatures above 30, it turned out to be wetter than average. In fact, there were 42 wet days with Dumfries and Galloway, home to Edwin Slater, one of our regular artists, registering its wettest August since rainfall records began, back in 1914.

But then, who wants predictions when it is often unexpected things that make life exciting and make us smile? As Sarah Duncan says, there is nothing like accidentally putting a dry-clean only top into the wash and discovering it comes out perfectly, or spotting a new green shoot in a plant you thought was done for. For me it was finding that my Spanish cooking book does not have the recipe for “Tortilla de Patatas” as surely, if you are Spanish, you are expected to know how to cook it from birth!, or finding a huge feather in the toilet of an airplane (during my last easyjet flight to Madrid).

Yes, things are more appreciated when you don’t expect them at all, when they are out of context. Like having a brilliant idea while waiting for the bus, or having a shower. Apparently proximity to water is very inspiring, says Henriette Anne Klauser. It’s something to do with the negative ions as they stimulate brain activity associated to creativity.
So be pleased for the rain.

I wonder whether this has something to do with the amount of talent in these wet-lands which exceeds the reservoirs of galleries and has flooded cafes and restaurants near you…to get you by surprise.
Just like a warm sunny day at the end of September when you were getting ready for more rain.

Join us this coming Sunday to see what our artists have been up to during all those 504 hours of inspiration and tons of negative ions.

Below: "The Auld Kirk", by Edwin Slater, mixed media.

NEWS RELEASE: Festival Exhibition and another mystery from the Highlands...

2009-08-05T09:53:00.000-07:00

On 5th of August 2009 we sent this Press Release about our Festival Exhibition...

Delicartessen.co.uk is today launching its Festival Exhibition at Joseph Pearce's Bar in Edinburgh.
The Exhibition, which includes a wide range of media including slate, collage and solder work by local artists, also includes a mysterious painting brought from Inverness for the show.

Inverness based artist Rosie Newman said:

"Seeing is Believing is inspired by a picture my father used to show us when we were children of Jesus with his eyes closed. He told us that if we looked hard enough - and if we believed in him, we would see his eyes open!
I tried to re-create that face from my memory and it was weird when I was painting him, as I was looking right into the eyes of Jesus, trying to paint his eyes open and yet shut, which was quite intense.
I had painted an under coat of red to go under the gold halo - and just as I looked Jesus in the eyes and he looked back with open eyes, the red paint came down in a stream from his head (as if blood from the crown) which is still there and it was a very strange moment for me, as I was alone in the studio at night!"

Vanessa Davila, Curator of the exhibition and speaking on behalf of Delicartessen said:

"The exhibition definitely has something for everyone, with an amazing range of materials being employed; from fish bone and feathers in Kate Lloyd's solder work, to pants and locally found deer hide in Newman's paintings.
And the strong sense of interaction with the environment is highlighted by Rosie's "Seeing is believing", where she invites the viewer to participate in this "seeing-believing" game of her childhood memories and be part of the mystery surrounding the painting's creation".

And, beyond mystery, the painting offers also food for thought. As Rosie explains:

"I dont believe in Jesus, as such, any more- but there is an element of 'wanting' to believe in 'something' that we all have and how much wanting to believe in something makes it real?
I painted it on camaflouge as the Iraq war was on my mind and the whole issues of using religion as a reason for war and blindly believing in that."

The Exhibition runs until the 30th of September at Joseph Pearces Bar.

Delicartessen is a small Edinburgh based company that promotes the art of young and emerging artists and organises exhibitions in different venues in the city.
Since 2007 it has been organising the art exhibitions at Joseph Pearces on a regular basis.
For more information about the exhibition please contact Vanessa Davila (tel.) or email vanessa@delicartessen.co.uk

ENDS

Notes to editors:

Joseph Pearce’s Bar, 23 Elm Row, Edinburgh, EH7 5HZ - 0131 556 4140

Rosie Newman's artist statement and qualifications:
Rosie Newman
Although I was taught not to ‘mix’ mediums at art school and to limit myself to one art form, I have never been able to stick to this. I am fascinated by the endless variety of materials available and during my career I have produced a diverse body of work, using doors, ironing boards, performance and also canaries.

Currently my paintings follow a theme of repetition versus uniqueness and this includes studies of wallpaper patterns, a series that uses the formal floral print. I use the texture or the paint to ‘set it free’; the pattern dissolves and/or changes, through painting, as though nature has claimed it back. (As with real wallpaper, when it fades and peels and the layers of the past are revealed and mixed with the new).

I like using practical and utilitarian images and putting feeling, wildness and nature back into them and vice versa. I have worked a lot with painting items of clothing and shoes, particularly my daughters red shoes, which I find symbolic and emotive. I have painted them over and over; to me they reflect the passing of time and the joy of the individuality within the mass-produced. I like flirting with pattern, leaving the symmetry and then returning to it.
More recently I have found a good source of deer hide from a forester and have been using it to paint onto. I find that it relates directly to the local landscape and it contains within it, a sense of ‘bringing back to life’.

Qualifications

1989-1992
BA Hons Degree in Fine Art Sculpture
Camberwell School of Art
London
1986-1988
BTEC Diploma in Art & Design
Ipswich School of Art.
England

Edinburgh Festival 2009

2009-08-03T09:34:00.000-07:00

On a pre-full moon Wednesday (5th of August) at 6 pm we launched our
Festival 09 Exhibition at Joseph Pearce's Bar.
This new collection brought a touch of Highland talent to Edinburgh,
with works by Inverness based artist Rossie Newman & John Cannavan's tribute to the highland cows!
The show included a wide range of media, themes and styles
by our regular artists which was sure to impress both visitors
and locals alike. And although it also had a painting featuring the castle,
the exhibition went far beyond what this cliched introduction might suggest...

...have a look and judge for yourself!

Above "McFarquars Bed I & II" by Rossie Newman, mixed media

Tales from the Crypt

2009-06-20T09:24:00.000-07:00

"House on the Hill", "Girl in the Forest"...they all could have been titles of tales you've heard.
But they were not.
...Or were they?

On Monday 22nd of June 2009 we launched our summer exhibition at The Jazz Bar.

A collection of enigmatic illustrations that could tell a story,
...or two!

(Above, "House on a hill" by Angela Gasseling, mixed media)

Sunshine on Leith: June-July 09

2009-06-08T09:02:00.000-07:00

was the title of one of the paintings on show at Joseph Pearce's Bar
as part of our Summer 2009 Exhibition.
It started on Monday 8th of June, to coincide with the launch of the
Leith Festival and presented new additions to our show.
It depicted a collection of work as eclectic as Edinburgh's most eccentric district.
...Just when you thought that you had seen it all in Leith!

Our posters depicted "Barranco Blanco" by Rosie Newman. Oil and pants on canvas,
80 x 80 cm

Artmag June - July 09

2009-06-02T06:52:00.000-07:00

Newsletter April 2009 - The Crows are nesting high this year...

2009-04-15T08:50:00.000-07:00

And someone told me recently that this is the sign of a very good summer ahead.
The first summer I spent in Scotland after arriving from Madrid, in 2002, was exceptionally good. “It’s not always like this, so don’t get too used to it..!” some friends advised me wisely to enjoy the gift of sunshine without taking it for granted, for duller times might follow.
And I soon learnt to appreciate the courage of a ray of light breaking through the clouds against all odds.

Delicartessen was born in a rainy March, so it is used to storms and showers. It is powered by the torrential flow of talent I have encountered by chance, and committed to allow our artists shine in their own right …whatever the forecast.Two years later, you can see them sparkling at Joseph Pearce’s Bar. After its facelift Scandinavian style, this corner of Leith is blossoming into an all-day den for regulars. We do our previews on Saturday mornings to make the most of its crisp, natural light.

And on a more cave style note, perfect for winter or Scottish days alike, we also exhibit at The Jazz Bar. Owner Bill Kyle keeps the venue buzzing…7 days a week. Its music programme even reaches high altitudes as I have come across several reviews about it in different in-flight magazines. No wonder Bill has 1.800 subscribers to his own newsletter. Previews are on Monday evenings, so there is no excuse to say these are grey days any more. And you can always stay and let the band of the day please your ears afterwards too.

The current show at the Jazz Bar, “Material-istic” refers to the 3D nature of the works on show and to the financial crash…but with a twist.
Although financial cycles can bring unpredicted downpours which suddenly take you by surprise and leave you feeling damp, and intangible products like shares can drop to zero and freeze your heart in a second, with a painting you know that, no matter what, you will always have something to hold and keep you warm inside.

So, don’t let the current climate make you feel gloomy as it might be time for another good summer…
Let’s hope the crows have been wise!!

Join us at our next preview this Saturday 2nd of May from 10.30 am -11.30 am at Joseph Pearce’s Bar, 23 Elm Row, Edinburgh
“The Spring Exhibition” includes works by Edwin Slater, John Cannavan, Kate Lloydd and other invited artists.

Materialistic - April 09 -

2009-04-15T08:26:00.000-07:00

"Beware of the Fish" by Kate Lloyd. Solder work, bone & acrylics, 58 x 40 cm.

In April 2009 we invited everyone to the launch of a new exhibition that had a tactile, material theme to it:

"I am pleased to invite you and your guests to the preview of our Spring Exhibition at The Jazz Bar.
Material-istic is a 2d/3d show with solder works by Kate Lloyd, slate works by Joshua Jack and oil paintings by Ronald Buchan.

Farewell to the winter blues and begin Spring with an event that, surprisingly, has nothing to do with the finantial crash and a lot to do with texture, colour and shape!

"Rolling Stones" by Joshua Jack. Slate, 40 x 40 cm.

Artmag April-May 09

2009-04-05T06:50:00.000-07:00

March 2009 - New works: Ronnie Buchan, John Cannavan & Edwin Slater

2009-03-05T08:49:00.000-08:00

In 2009 we recruited new artists like John Cannavan whose paintings of Edinburgh and Scottish landscapes became regular sight at all our existing venues at the time.

And on 5th of March we lauched a new exhibition that also included works by Ronnie and Edwin.

"Parliament Street", oil by John Cannavan
50.5 x 40.5 cm.

"Soul Mates" mixed m. 60 x 80 cm.

"Woman with cigarette" oil ,50 x 40cm.

February 2009 - Jacqui Higgs solo exhibition

2009-02-05T06:45:00.000-08:00

After a short break to recover from all our hectic activities around Christmas time, we welcomed the new year with a Solo Exhibition by Irish artist Jacqui Higgs.

Above: Fettiye", 50 x 41.5 cm. Mixed media £495

"My Current practice involves on-site drawings, photographs and graffiti text sourced from the industrial spaces of urban and contrasting rural landscapes. These are then developed to create a multi-textured surface..."

J.H.

This painting below is my all-time favourite by Jacqui.
Due to the layer of varnish covering the canvas, the foggy quality of the "snow" is appreciated only when you see the painting in the flesh.
But when you do...you can almost feel the dampness in the air. This painting came back to mind after seeing a Portraits Exhibition in London in February 2010. From all the photographs on show, the one that caught my eye displayed an image of a young man laying with his greyhound dog in a beautiful, large field. Unlike most of the other photographs, this one had some information to complement the image. The text explained that while the guy in the photo looks somehow unaware of the camera, looking distracted; the dog, on the contrary, was looking right into it, as if posing for the photograph. It was this swap of roles between human and animal that had caught my eye. I found it surprising and interesting. And the same idea applies to Jacqui's "Walking the Dog in the Snow": the dog seems to be looking directly into the viewers' eye...with some sort of human-like awareness. He seems to be telling us about the cold and the dampness...

Paintings by Kenneth Le Riche

2008-12-15T07:10:00.000-08:00

We closed 2008 with an exhibition of stunning work by Kenneth Le Riche.

Below: The Unbearable Likeness of Being
Oil on canvas
60" x 48"

"The Unbearable Likeness of Being" is a misquotation of Milan Kundera's book 'The Unbearable Lightness of Being'. This was the book that the young woman in the painting was reading when the idea for the piece was first thought up. I have chosen to use this misquote for two reasons: as a reference to what the woman was reading and thus where she was in her imagination as the idea was composed, and also as a comment on how in relationships there can be tension and discontent when the two parties concerned can feel too alike and each others' behaviour too predictable. In arguably a misguided way, both parties consequently look outside the relationship for contentment. In the painting I wanted to create an ambiguous psychological narrative. Kenneth Le Riche

Kenneth trained and lived in New York, where he adquired his outstanding figurative technique. 9 months after this exhibition his words "realism is the new avante-garde" served me for the introduction of an exhibition called "Beyond Realism", organised for Colours Gallery in collaboration with Spanish gallery Artelibre. What is remarkable is that one the participating Spanish artists: Aranzazu Martinez, had trained with Kenneth in New York...
It's a small world after all!

Artmag Dec 08 - Jan 09

2008-12-15T06:43:00.000-08:00

Barnardo's Auction - December 2008

2008-12-10T05:27:00.000-08:00

"Waiting the adoption" 76 x 56 cm. By Zohre Mirabassi
Oil on board

Barnardo’s Exhibition Launch

Wed 10th Dec 2008
6.30 pm
Joseph Pearce's Bar, 23 Elm Row.
Edinburgh

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A full moon Wednesday of December 2008 witnessed the launch of the Barnardo's Art Auction campaign, for which paintings were auctioned on the 12th of December at Joseph Pearce's Bar to raise funds for this charity devoted to helping disadvantaged and neglected kids in our community.

It highlighted the generosity of local and international artists who donated more than 30 paintings with titles as inspired as “Beginnings” (Edwin Slater).
They did their part and then it was our turn!

The exhibition and pre-autcion campaign, which included downloadable catalogues from the webiste, had an overwhelming response with a staggering amount being raised through the purchase of art. Delicartessen donated an oil painting called "Waiting for the adoption" by Iranian artist, Zohre Mirabassi. The painting sold at the auction night which took place at Joseph Pearce’s Bar, 23 Elm Row, Edinburgh.

This event proved the generosity and sensitivity of both artists and art lovers both local and afar. The money raised was dedicated to finance a summer holiday for the kids of one of Barnardo's adoption centers in Edinburgh.
The idea of giving the kids the simple, yet out of reach, opportunity of enjoying a holiday, lifted the hopes for the result of the auction and echoed Barnardos' motto of giving kids back their future...and shall we add, their present too.
We were blown away by the response of our artists and local volunteers and felt so priviledged to take part in an event like this.
As the say goes..."What goes around, comes around" (and often multiplied!) Incredilbe experience.

October 2008 - Collaboration with the Hispanic Festival

2008-10-12T07:59:00.000-07:00

In October 2008 we teamed up with the Hispanic Festival in Edinburgh and attended their fund-raising event at The Caves, where we handed out fliers for a special discount.
It was a great night and we met some new collectors as well as people simply interested in the products and influences of Hispanic culture and art.

Images by Lalo Rubio

October 2008 Newsletter

2008-10-12T04:53:00.000-07:00

In October 2008 we sent a newsletter advancing some of the exciting events coming in the the last quarter of the year...It was great to team up with the Hispanic Festival and to contribute to Barnardo's Charity Auction.
It sounded like this...

"Dear friend,
Reserve some of your energy for the aftermaths of tonight’s full moon as you will need it for the events kicking off this Thursday 16th October.

If you missed our last preview with new works by Jacqui Higgs and amazing Edinburgh scenes made in collage by Zoe Mafham, join us this Thursday from 5.30pm till 6.30 pm.
Below: "Old Town from Waverley" by Zoe Mafham

We have 1 new work by Zoe plus 3 new colourful musicians by best seller Nikki Godley to brighten up the evening.
Below: Horn Trio, oil on canvas, by Nikki Godley

This Thursday 16th also marks the comeback of the Hispanic Festival, celebrating Scottish and Hispanic connections in Edinburgh, with 4 days full of cultural events.
Whether it has been inspired by Spain and painted in Scotland or inspired by Scotland and painted in Spain; some of the works we sell symbolize this Hispanic-Scottish link.

We would like to celebrate it by giving the Hispanic Festival visitors a 10% discount voucher for any of the paintings exhibited at Joseph Pearce's Bar, Elm Row, until the 9th of November, including works by Mexican and Spanish illustrators Eduardo Rubio & Max Hierro, respectively, which are exclusive to Delicartessen

Check their website for further information: www.hispanicfestival.co.uk

Finally we have united forces with Joseph Pearce’s Bar to organise Barnardo’s annual art auction and plan to raise £4000 to give Edinburgh RAFTs kids the opportunity of enjoying a summer camp. I’d like to thank in advance to “our artists” who have generously donated 4 paintings for the auction so far.The works will be up on show from 10th November and the auction will be on the 10th of December, but I’ll keep you informed!!

Waiting the Adoption, by Zohre Mirabassi
has been donated by Delicartessen and will be auctioned on the 10th of December."

Autumn Exhibition 2008

2008-09-15T08:59:00.000-07:00

Our Autumn Exhibition presented new works by artist Jacqui Higgs.
Her work can not be praised enough...
Originally from Dublin, Eire, Jacqui graduated with a BA Hons. from the Edinburgh College of Art and holds a Post-graduate Diploma in Art Therapy.
She has exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy and well established galleries throughout Scotland and is a member of the Society of Scottish Artists.
She received the Peter Potter gallery trust award and her paintings are included in the private collection of the University of Edinburgh.

Here: "555" mixed media, 81 cm x 65 cm

More than Illustration...

2008-08-16T08:50:00.000-07:00

presented a surprisingly original collection of works by emerging and well established local and international artists with a graphic edge:
Angela Gasseling, Max Hierro, Laura Murray, Zoe Mufham and
Eduardo Rubio.
A collection of works that hightlighted the artists' superb drawing skills and took them to a higher level by exploring with mixed media and colour.
The exhibition launched on 16th of August 2008 in Joseph Pearce's Bar.
Below, Globo ("Balloon") by Eduardo Rubio

Summer 2008

2008-08-03T08:19:00.000-07:00

Our Summer Exhibition 2008 launched on the 3rd of July 2008 with paintings by Edinburgh based artist Jill Ashforth; inspired by Skye, Orkney and Shetlands.
The collection really captured the special quality of the northern lights, and smelt of sea and summer...Scottish style.

Below, Rose Sunset, Skye, oil on canvas, 1m x 1m

Below, Sea Splatter in the Rain, oil on canvas, 50 cm x 50 cm

Artmag Aug-Sept 08

2008-08-02T06:40:00.000-07:00

Nikki Godley at the Jazz Bar

2008-05-15T07:56:00.000-07:00

And in May 2008

Delicartessen presented...:
New Paintings by Nikki Godley...
at the Jazz Bar, where her colourful musicians couldn't be more at home!!

Duet, oil on canvas, 18 x 24"
The private preview took place on Thursday 15th of May from 6.30 p.m until 7.45 pm
at 1A Chambers Street, Edinburgh

7 out of the 11 paintings sold on the night to the Director of a well known radio station who had been in our contact list for quite some time but never managed to attend one of our previews before. To our delight (and Nikki's)...there is always a first time!

Artmag April - May 08

2008-04-02T06:16:00.000-07:00

Out of This World

2008-03-29T06:58:00.000-07:00

In March of 2008 we recruited Spanish illustrator Max Hierro and invited everyone to the launch of the exhibition...It read like this.

I am pleased to invite you to our first ever exhibition with works by Spanish illustrator Max Hierro: "Out of this world"
It may not feel like spring has quite arrived yet, but Hierro's atmospheric illustrations are guaranteed to cheer you up!

The date is next Saturday 29th of March from 10.30 a.m until 12.00 p.m @ Joseph Pearce's Bar, in Elm Row, Edinburgh.
There will be coffee and, for the more adventurous of you, some cava compliments of the Spanish Consulate (from 11.00 am)

And if you missed Kelvin Burgoyne's exhibition @ Pearce's, you have another chance to see his amazing watercolors.
"High Summer Storm Over..." will be on display at our new venue, the Jazz Bar, in Chambers Street
until the 15th of May.

See you next Saturday!!

Contemporary Cave Paintings

2008-02-15T09:15:00.000-08:00

In February 2008 we launched an exhibition with new paintings by Edwin Slater.
A stunning collection of works that have been varnished and fired again and again to adquire an almost sculptural, 3 dimensional quality and challenge the past of time.

The Craig
Mixed media
40 x 40 cm

Stobbs in the Water
mixed media
40 x 40 cm

Rockpool Point

Mixed media
40 x 40 cm.
framed

OUT OF CONTEXT Newsletter December 2007

2007-12-16T09:09:00.000-08:00

If you always thought that watercolour is all about
pale, subtle shades and that Christmas is about snow
scenes…
Here comes an exhibition to make you think twice!!!!!
Delicartessen.co.uk & Pearce’s Bar
Invite you to the Preview of:
“High Summer Storm Over...”...in the search for watercolour splendor
By awarded artist Kelvin Burgoyne
Below "High Summer Storm over Devon". Watercolour, 72 x 60 cm

I know that, at this time of the year,
an exhibition called “High Summer
Storm over…” is completely out of
context.
As a Sociologist, I was once very interested in Structuralism,
Semiotics… and the way the social context conditions our
expectations and reactions.
Take a work of art out of the context of a formal museum or
gallery and some of the barriers are removed; we feel more
relaxed about discussing it, and more able to relate to the
piece. It becomes closer, something more familiar and less
imposing.
Now that we have 4 venues to exhibit works in Edinburgh
and one in Glasgow in this our first year, we can be happy
that the artists we promote have taken a step forward to be
part of our cities’ landscape. And we hope to keep on
reaching a growing audience of highly aesthetically aware
people who once thought contemporary art had nothing to
offer them.
In the coming year we plan to improve the website which
will allow it to become a dynamic link with both clients and
artists. We would like art to touch every day lives, to be an
object, not only of desire but also of inspiration,
engagement and communication.
To all of you whose faces I have seen regularly at our
previews, thank you for your support, feedback and
encouragement. To those we haven’t managed to seduce
yet, there is a last chance in 2007, and it will be a refreshing
one.
Sometimes you have to expect the unexpected…even at
Christmas.
See you next Wednesday!

Artmag Dec 07- Jan 08

2007-12-15T06:49:00.000-08:00

Article: "Collecting at a Click" (oct-nov 07)

2007-11-02T05:50:00.000-07:00

In October 2007 Artmag published our article "Collecting at a Click" in their October - November issue

From People & Places

2007-11-01T08:46:00.000-07:00

"Drinker Granada" by Ronnie Buchan.
Oil on canvas. 30 x 30 cm.

...was the title of an exhibition celebrated at a local Health Clinic in Edinburgh and launching on 1st of November 2007.

It included work by German artist, Sigrid Acker, Ronnie Buchan, Jacqui Higgs and Jane Mitchell.
The event coincided with the clinic's 3rd anniversay and included tapas and live music for a truly relaxed celebration.
The exhibiton showed works of remote (and not so much so...!) places as seen and captured by the contributing artists.

Hosting the exhibition in a Clinic was quite an experience and it is still a an idea in our agenda for future events.
The links between art and health are so interesting and never ending.
The Autumn-Winter 2010 newsletter published by CHAS (Children's Hospice Association Scotland) is titled "Music is the Best Medicine". It gives evidence, through a series of personal, touching stories, of the amazing effects of music in children with learning disabilities. It emphasyses the famous idea that "where words fail, music speaks". And the same is to be said of the visual arts. An increasing awareness of the effects that colour, shape, texture...have in our every day mood was achieved partly due to the emergence of the interior design industry but science has always been much more cautious when it comes to establishing the relationship between the stimulation of our senses and the effects for our health. Despite this, the emergence of studies related to Art Therapy and the demand for these professionals prove the currently accepted association between in and out: what happens outside us, and what goes on inside. In this sense, art, both related to our ability to enjoy it; and our ability to communicate through it; have an effect in our quality of life and general health.

This exhibition filled the clinic space with visual memories of holiday landscapes, blossoms and sunny, relaxing times. We hope that it contributed to creating a healing mood; where health is not stricly related to body and the prevention of illness but especially to happyness, enjoyment and a healthy balance between body & mind.

Below:"Buganvilles" by Sigrid Acker, 53 x 73 cm. Oil on board

Creation vs Reproduction...every time we press the printer’s button, original art suffers a little...

2007-09-20T07:52:00.000-07:00

In our first year of life, we had an exhibition with the work of Jane Mitchell in Glasgow.
Her detailed leaves and cheerful floral motifs are, surprisingly, inspired by her stay in Chernobyl and the aftermath of the nuclear catastrophe. The main idea behind this collection of work was that of contamination and how it can hide in nature and stay unnoticed for a long time. Jane is not the only artist who has found destruction and desolation to be a source of inspiration. I was for some time, very absorbed in the work of Anton Chejov and I read in an introduction to his work that he often found his voice in the vast, deserted landscapes of the Russian steppe. A strange coincidence that extends to the precision and detail achieved by images and words, respectively, in both of them.

Study for Afterglow No.2
Gouache on paper
Image size: 12 x 17cm

Jane's work inspired this write-up.

"The effects of technology do not occur at the level of opinions or concepts, but alter sense ratios or patterns of perception steadily and without any resistance".
Marshall McLuhan
Understanding Media, 1964

Do the latest digital and media technologies contribute to the diffusion of art, or, on the contrary, undermine its value…?
In the “global village” anticipated by sociologists as a result of the widespread use of Internet, mass media and IT technologies, the value of symbols, icons, marks and brands depends greatly on their distribution, recognition and reproduction as part of a universal language, as opposed to traditional values of exclusivity
and privacy.
Some believe that the very same technologies that allow us to photograph, copy, reproduce or distribute visual images with a gadget as simple as a camera phone, have contributed to the blurring of the boundaries between creation and reproduction.
No work is purely original and, as Dali recognised “Those who do not want to imitate anything, create nothing”. But there is still something unique about an original piece of art, despite the multiple inspirations and motivations behind its creation. There is something that can’t be easily duplicated with the click of a mouse. It is there, in the canvas or board.
We are bombarded daily with digitised images that play within the boundaries between art and technology. The current dominant aesthetic has a graphic appeal that undermines the distinction between artistic and mass produced and increases a perception of immediacy and speed that often camouflages the actual amount of effort, technique and creativity invested in the final piece. Jane Mitchell’s work is an example of this. Her paintings, whose extremely detailed, free-hand drawn leaves and branches resemble however some exotic and elegant mass-produced wall coverings produced using the latest printing technology.
This is one of the trickiest obstacles for artists who move within the contemporary aesthetics of a global, digitised world but remain loyal to the sensitivity, patience and craftsmanship of the classics.

Artmag Advert August - September 2007

2007-08-02T06:10:00.000-07:00

Our first ever advertisement for Delicartessen, appeared at Artmag in the Aug-September 2007 issue, displaying a painting of Marilyn by Iranian artist Zohre Mirabassi.
Many more would follow...