Hello Paris!!!

One of my readers has suggested I post up pics of some paintings sold at the beginning of this year (nice idea) - always happy to oblige! So here is one of the two paintings which are now in Paris. The other painting is still here in London, at the Connaught Hotel in Mayfair.

Red/Yellow II, 60 x 72in, acrylic on canvas

©Julie Umerle. All rights reserved

Parsons Alumni Art In Miami

Here is an installation shot of the exhibition in Miami that I have been selected for. Very proud to see two of my paintings in the foreground here. Although I was not able to attend the exhibition, everyone tells me the exhibition was a great success.   

                                        

 'Parsons Alumni Art In Miami' exhibition. Caridi Gallery, Miami, Florida.

Art Week Miami/Art Basel

One Hour Project

This is a photo taken in my studio (Acme Studios, The Fire Station, London), by Jens Marott as part of his project, One Hour, about artists and their working environments.
 
"One Hour is about artists and their creative space, be it on a houseboat in Hackney or in a council flat on the 11th floor, yet these creative people keep producing art.

There are studios all over England where artists can rent studio spaces at affordable prices, these spaces are either government funded or private run.

I have been lucky to be invited into each artist's creative space, to document who they are and how they work, for one hour."

Jens Marott
http://www.jensmarott.com/gallery_284435.html

Beating the Odds

This weekend, I went to a professional development session with Matt Roberts at his gallery in Vyner Street. Most artists at the early or mid-career stage of their career are looking at ways of moving on to the next level, but it's always useful to have some input whatever stage you're at.

Matt started by asking what my goals were. Easy enough to answer. He looked at some of my paintings and my cv. Apparently, I'm not exhibiting enough to gain exposure for my work. Artists who are successful in promoting their careers often show their work perhaps 8-10 times a year. Me, I am usually happy with one show minimum, and three shows per year would count as a good year. I shall try to aim higher in the future.

I heard that only about 500 artists in London are making a living by their work alone, although there are thousands of artists here, and more art schools and galleries than in any other capital city. With odds like that, it's no wonder that so many artists struggle to survive.

Painting

Back to the studio at the beginning of next week to begin painting again. It's been a long summer, and I worked really hard on my writing in the time I was away.

I'm really looking forward to getting back into my painting. I have a couple of new ideas to explore. It will probably take a while to get going and to pick up from where I left off, but I always enjoy that feeling of uncertainty that comes at the beginning of a new project.

It feels like going back to school after the summer holidays!

A life of its own

Someone contacted me recently through my website about two large paintings she'd bought of mine about nine years ago. She sent me jpgs of the work and I immediately recognized the paintings. They were from a batch of work I'd consigned to a skip in 2001 when I'd moved from a large studio complex in London at Acme Studios, Carpenters Road, Stratford.

And those are not the first of the paintings that have since been resurrected from the skip. A couple of years ago another person contacted me about an early piece of work, which was from the very same batch of paintings I'd tried to discard.

When the studios closed, due to redevelopment of the area, many of the artists were sifting through their paintings which had accumulated over the years, having to make decisions about what to keep and what to discard. Some artists had to put work into storage, or just didn't have room in their new studios to take everything.

A friend helped me sort through my work. All the paintings I felt I could live without, being documented on slide, were discarded. I guess I must have consigned about ten paintings to one of the skips in the yard.

But I discovered that the work has a life of its own once it leaves the artist's studio, and there is no knowing where it will ultimately find a home. Sometimes a painting will change hands many times, people selling it on or giving the work as gifts.

Despite my best efforts to destroy those early paintings, they are still in the world! I have learnt from this experience - and now I always slash any canvases I wish to discard before I bin them. That way they are well and truly destroyed...

The Fire Station

Painting's going well! Thanks to everyone who's reading my blog and posting comments - it's great to have your feedback.

More about my studio - my studio's in London, in a disused Fire Station built in 1911 for the GLC. It's in an industrial area of the city, near to the Olympic site. When the building first opened as a fire station a hundred years ago, there were horse-drawn fire engines there. The families of the firemen used to live upstairs too, so there's a real sense of history to the building.

There are five floors of studios, overlooking a courtyard on one side and the A12 motorway on the other. The building is just a short distance from Canary Wharf's gleaming towers which can be seen from the road, but it's a world away in every sense. Indeed, a friend visiting from New York remarked how similar the area felt to Long Island City, a similarly urban environment.

There are concrete floors in my studio on the ground floor, and it's freezing cold in winter. Yet it's the best studio I've had so far. I must say that the two studios I worked in when I lived in New York were some of the worst!

Twelve new artists are moving into the studios upstairs next week, and the decorators have been busy for several weeks getting their spaces ready. The residents upstairs change every five years. They live and work there, but my studio is a working space only - about 600 sq ft, with three big windows and a sky light. Four other artists have studios downstairs near me.

When I first left art school, I used to paint at home (not at the kitchen table, but in one of the rooms in my flat) but I soon realized that I prefer to have a separation between home and work. Everyone's practice is different.

I've posted a photo of my studio at the Fire Station above - it does not always look that tidy!

In the Studio

Working hard in the studio now that the days are warmer and it's staying light for longer. So far this year I've completed two new paintings, and am working on two 60" square paintings at the moment. It's been a good start to the year, and quite productive. I'm using a palette of rose and magenta, and everything glows very nicely when the light hits the canvas at a certain angle.

I'm working towards a project at the end of the year for which I'll need fifteen large paintings, so lots to do before then. More details later. Will keep you posted!

Latitude

                                       ©Julie Umerle. All rights reserved.
                          

"Vertical lines in varying greens, a light pastel beaming and seeming to rise to an almost neon state against the rest of the greens, ranging from a muddied army green to a saturated blue-green, alternating between black lines composing a rhythmic visual push, pushing throughout the entire piece.

In other works, Umerle’s mark is less hard-edged, softer, blending in and out of different values with gradual ease.Whether precise in a clean-cut, graphic quality or blurred and moody in atmospheric state, there is a consistency in Umerle’s compositional harmony that defines her work."

NY Arts Magazine, 22nd February 2010

Installation views of 'Cosmos or Chaos'

Simon Morley gallery talk

I am delighted to announce that Simon Morley, who wrote the catalogue essay for my exhibition 'Cosmos or Chaos', will be at studio1.1 on Wednesday 20th January at 3pm to give a talk about the work. The gallery talk will last about 40 minutes, after which there will be an opportunity for questions and informal discussion. I hope you will be able to join us.

Simon is the author of 'Writing on the Wall', and has written for Art Monthly and The Independent on Sunday. He is a painter who has shown his work in London, Amsterdam, Tokyo and Korea, and is represented by Art First. He is a lecturer at Winchester School of Art.

For further information about this event please contact the gallery:

studio1.1
57a Redchurch Street
London E2 7DJ

Website: http://www.studio1-1.co.uk/

Nearest tube: Liverpool Street

A big thank you

Thanks to everyone who came out last night to the opening of my solo show in Shoreditch, 'Cosmos or Chaos', braving the snow and the ice!  It was wonderful to see so many people there, despite it being the coldest night of the year.

A big shout goes out to Michael and Keran from studio1.1 for hosting the show, and to Arts Council England who made it all possible. The exhibition continues until 24th January.

I'm having some installation shots done on Monday, so shall try to post a pic on the blog next time,  if I can find out how to do so....

Meanwhile, there are a couple of exhibitions that I want to see before they close - I'll try to get to the John Baldessari show at Tate Modern over the weekend, and then go see 'Sacred Made Real' at the National Gallery before the 24th January.

'Cosmos or Chaos'

There's an exhibition of my paintings coming  up in the new year in London at studio1.1, a gallery in Shoreditch, entitled 'Cosmos or Chaos'. This will be my first solo exhibition since 2008, and it is supported by Arts Council England, the national development agency for the arts, through its Grants for the arts programme for individuals and organisations. I am really thrilled to have this opportunity to make my work more accessible, and to bring it to the attention of a wider audience. Hope you will come by to say hello and take a look at my new paintings.

Private view: Thursday 7th January, 6-9pm
Exhibition runs from 8 - 24 January 2010

Cosmos or Chaos:  "As the title immediately suggests, Julie Umerle’s paintings exist at the meeting point of decision and accident, as indeed do our lives.

In this series of works, created specifically for the exhibition, gravity and design collude and collide in a synthesis which calls up a most unexpected counterpart. Colours are chosen to oppose and confound, while the exact materiality, the weight of the paint interferes, patterning its own trajectory."

studio1.1
57a Redchurch Street
London  E2 7DJ

Open: Wednesday - Sunday, 12 - 6pm

Website:  http://www.studio1-1.co.uk/

Nearest tube: Liverpool Street

'Watch This Space' Charity Art Auction

Yellow/Red II
Acrylic on canvas
24 x 24in
© Julie Umerle

On December 8th, ‘Watch This Space’ will organise the first Special Yoga Centre auction of young and emerging artists. This will not only give collectors a chance to discover some hot new artists, and support their practice by purchasing their work, it will also raise much needed funds for the Special Yoga Centre. I am delighted to be participating in this event by donating one of my paintings (as above) to the charity auction.

Over the past three years, The Special Yoga Centre has hosted charity art auctions of artworks by some of the country’s most celebrated contemporary artists including: Damien Hirst, Sam Taylor-Wood, Peter Blake and Marc Quinn. The last auction, introduced by Samantha Cameron, and hosted by Gabbi Roslin, raised a staggering £100,000, even more amazing since this event took place in the midst of an economic downturn. A Christie’s auctioneer auctioned off some exquisite pieces, including a spot painting and etchings by Hirst.

Yoga expert and co-author of ‘The Spiritual Teachings of Yoga’ Jo Manuel founded the Special Yoga Centre in 2004 as a charitable organization supporting children with a variety of conditions, which can be aided by the practice of yoga. Children with Down’s syndrome, cerebral palsy, autism, epilepsy, ADD, ADHD and other physical and developmental difficulties all benefit from the expert teaching offered at the Special Yoga Centre, whose policy is to offer yoga to all without regard to financial or cultural constraints. Children from all walks of life, including the late son of shadow Prime Minister David Cameron, have benefited from the care and teaching of the Special Yoga Centre.

Artists featuring in the auction will include; Andrew Campbell, Ann-Marie James, Arran Gregory, Ben Jenkins, Best One, Cereinyn Ord, Daisy de Villeneuve, Elliott Young, Epoh Beech, Eugene Wood, Graham Hudson, Harry Malt, Ilaria Conte, Izzie Klingels, Julie Umerle, Jim Cooper, Kevin Fitzpatrick, Konrad Wyrebek, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry & Peter Harris, Lee Jones, Louise Richardson, Mat Pringle, Matilda Temperley, Max Parsons, Monkey Punch III, Niall O’Brien, Nick Cunard, Nick Jensen, Peter Edwards, Ricky Adam, Robin Clare, Sam Szulc, Sarah Cooney, Sarah Kate Wilson, Sara le Roy, Sky Sharrock, Sohrab and Suzie Wright.

Frances Outred, European Head of Post-War and Contemporary Art at Christie's, will take the auction, with a special celebrity host getting the crowd going. Therefore this event provides an excellent opportunity for collectors to discover exciting new artists. It will also aid the career of these artists (who will receive a percentage of the proceeds), and allow the Special Yoga Centre to continue it’s invaluable practice with the aid of the auction proceeds.

Committee members are:
Damian Barr – The Times
Jonni Fitzgerald – Fashion Stylist
Lucy Meakin – All Visual Arts
Meritaten Mance – Mance & Rose PR
Tiger Savage – Creative Director, M& C Saatchi
Iram Qurashi – Cultural Consultant
Irshaard Ibrahim – Director of Sleep Clinic
Paddy Barstow – ART MOSH
Rachael Barratt – Kultureflash Art Editor
Sydney Levinson – Rhodes & Rhodes

The last auction at the Special Yoga Centre was featured in the Evening Standard, London Paper, Daily Express and Daily Mail. Watch This Space will curate the auction and take care of the PR. Watch This Space have already been featured by BBC News, New York Times, International Herald Tribune, Evening Standard, Amelia’s Magazine, MySpace, Art Daily and The London Paper.

For further information go to http://www.watch-this-space.org/

or contact Lee Johnson on lee@watch-this-space.org

or Bakul Pakti on bakul@watch-this-space.org

The Special Yoga Centre, The Tay Building, 2a Wrentham Avenue London NW10