Pery Burge - Abstract Photography

Pery Burge (1955 – 10 February 2013) was an English artist who, during the 2000s, worked with abstract images using ink in water or ink on paper, invoking natural processes such as surface tension driven flow, gravity, turbulence, rotation and erosion.
Born Peronel Burge, she grew up in Launceston, Cornwall.[citation needed] Pery's first main interest was music, she played the piano and violin. During this time period she was also involved with scientific experiments with direction from her father. Burge developed an interest in art during her early teenage years, and was inspired by a book her mother had given her called You Are An Artist by Fred Gettings (1965). In 1972 she attended various schools before she obtained a music and art teaching certificate from Gipsy Hill College, Kingston. She continued her education at the Gipsy Hill College, Kingston to complete a Bachelor of Arts degree.[citation needed] Gipsy Hill College merged with Kingston University in 1992.
 In 1992, she had developed RSI, which she had to modify her artistic practices in order to continue with Art. Pery Burge continued her education in Graphic Arts and Illustration at Anglia Polytechnic University and obtained a Certificate of Higher Education Pass in 1994.In 2006, Pery Burge developed a new brushless art technique, which lead to experimenting with moving substrate. Burge found that ink in water, when using different surface tension, gave a colorful flow and movement, which she calls "Inkplosions".* Once this technique was mastered, Pery began photographing the sequences of the changing flow. Thus creating color variations that could be controlled by the surface tension. She presented her work at the 12th International Symposium for Flow Visualization(ISFV12) Göttingen, Germany, 2006.Wikipedia

 

Ralph Rumney - Abstract Expressionism

Ralph Rumney (5 June 1934 – 6 March 2002) was an English artist, born in Newcastle Upon Tyne.In 1957 lifelong conscientious objector Rumney - he evaded National Service by going on the run in continental Europe - was one of the co-founders of the London Psychogeographical Association. This organization was, along with COBRA and the Lettrist International, involved in the formation of the Situationist International. Amongst those present at the founding in the Italian village of Cosio d'Arroscia were Walter Olmo, Michèle Bernstein (later his second wife) Asger Jorn, and Guy Debord. However, within seven months Rumney had been 'amiably' expelled from the SI by Debord for allegedly "failing to hand in a psychogeography report about Venice on time."Rumney spent much of his life living as a wanderer, and was variously described as both a 'recluse' and a 'media whore', seeing his existence as a 'permanent adventure and endless experiment.' Rumney married Pegeen Guggenheim, the daughter of Peggy Guggenheim. He moved, as his friend Guy Atkins said, "between penury and almost absurd affluence. One visited him in a squalid room in London's Neal Street, in a house shared with near down-and-outs. Next, one would find him in Harry's Bar in Venice, or at a Max Ernst opening in Paris. He seemed to take poverty with more equanimity than riches." Wikipedia

 

James Lawrence Isherwood

"James Lawrence Isherwood (1917-1989) is widely regarded by his followers as one of the best impressionist painters this country has produced. Born and bred in Wigan, now part of Greater Manchester, England, he was a prolific painter and produced his best work from the early 1960s on. His work has always been considered truly original and is typified by strong brushwork and extravagant colours. His subjects ranged from rural and industrial landscapes to nudes and portraiture, and his work has found its way into art collections across the world. He is known for his Wigan Style and Wigan figure paintings. These together with his London scenes, Wigan street scenes, are his most sought after works. Isherwood was a personal friend of the artist L. S. Lowry, who purchased his Woman with Black Cat and displayed it at his home. Lowry paid £5 for the picture from Isherwood's Avante Guard exhibition in Manchester. Other known collectors include Prince Charles, who bought one of Isherwood's seascapes from a sale held at Cambridge University. The former Director General of the BBC Hugh Greene commissioned a portrait of Mary Whitehouse, his vociferous critic, from Isherwood; the artist depicted her with five breasts. Isherwood gave the painting a punning title - "Sanctity" - and Hugh Greene allegedly hung it in his office so that he could apparently throw things at it. Always short of money, Isherwood travelled the country in his old estate car, usually accompanied by his mother (whom he called 'Mother Lily'). He liked to pitch up at art colleges and give impromptu tutorials, and usually paid for his hotel room with a painting. He also offered magistrates a painting in lieu of a fine when prosecuted for driving with no tax or insurance. A BBC documentary, I am Isherwood was made in 1974 about the artist and his work. This was transmitted twice by the BBC once in 1974 and again in 1975. Isherwood died on the 9 June 1989 ." (www.amazon.com/James-Lawrence-Isherwood-1917-1989-Biography/dp/1861511515)

Beryl Cook

Beryl Cook (10 September 1926 – 28 May 2008) was an English artist best known for her original and instantly recognisable paintings. Often comical, her works pictured people whom she encountered in everyday life, including people enjoying themselves in pubs, girls shopping or out on a hen night, drag queen shows or a family picnicking by the seaside or abroad. She had no formal training and did not take up painting until her thirties.She was a shy and private person, and in her art often depicted the flamboyant and extrovert characters she would like to be.
Cook admired the work of the English visionary artist Stanley Spencer, his influence evident in her compositions and bold bulky figures. Another influence was Edward Burra, who painted sleazy cafes, nightclubs, gay bars, sailors and prostitutes, although, unlike Burra, she did not paint the sinister aspects of scenes. She had an almost photographic memory. Although widely popular and recognized as one of the most well-known contemporary British artists, Cook never enjoyed acceptance by the art establishment

 Beryl was born in Egham, Surrey, as one of four sisters. Her parents, Adrian S. B. Lansley and Ella Farmer-Francis, separated very early and mother moved to Reading, Berkshire with her daughters. Beryl attended Kendrick School there, but left education at fourteen and started to work in a variety of jobs. Having moved to London towards the end of war, Beryl attempted working as a model and showgirl. In 1948, she married her childhood friend John Cook, who was in the merchant navy. When he retired from the sea, they briefly ran a pub in Stoke-by-Nayland, Suffolk. Their son John was born in 1950, and in 1956, the family left to live in Southern Rhodesia (now known as Zimbabwe). They would remain in Africa for the next decade, where in 1960, Cook produced her first ever painting, Hangover.

The family returned to England in the mid-sixties and moved to East Looe, Cornwall in 1965, where Beryl focused more on her painting. They then moved to Plymouth in 1968, where they bought a guest house on the Hoe. Cook shared her time between running the guest house and producing more and more paintings. In the mid-seventies, her works caught the attention of one of their guests, who subsequently put her in touch with the management of the Plymouth Arts Centre, where her first exhibition took place in November 1975. The exhibition was a great success and resulted in a cover feature in The Sunday Times. This was followed by an exhibition at the Portal Gallery in London in 1976, where Cook continued to exhibit regularly until her death..Cook was enjoying growing popularity and her paintings soon were in great demand. Her first book of collected arts was published by John Murray in 1978, and in 1979, a film was made for LWT's The South Bank Show, where she discussed her work with Melvyn Bragg. Cook then collaborated with such authors as Edward Lucie-Smith and Nanette Newman by providing illustrations for their books. She continued to regularly publish books of her own artworks up into the early 2000s, including Beryl Cook's New York (1985), inspired by her visit to the New York City.

In 1994, she received the Best Selling Published Artist Award from the Fine Art Trade Guild. In 1995, Beryl Cook was awarded the Order of the British Empire. She did not attend the official ceremony due to her shyness, and accepted the honour at a quieter ceremony in Plymouth the following year. Post Office reproduced one of her paintings as a first class postage stamp. In 2002, her painting The Royal Couple featured in the Golden Jubilee exhibition in London. Tiger Aspect Productions made two animated films called Bosom Pals using characters from her paintings, voiced by Dawn French, Rosemary Leach, Alison Steadman and Timothy Spall, and broadcast in February 2004. Channel 4 News produced a short film on Beryl and her work in 2005, and she was also the featured artist in BBC Two's The Culture Show in 2006.Wikipedia

Surrealism Roland Penrose

Sir Roland Algernon Penrose (14 October 1900 – 23 April 1984)".English Surrealist painter and poet, best known for his exhibitions and books about the work of his friends Picasso, Ernst, Miró, Man Ray, and Tàpies. He planned the International Surrealist Exhibition in 1936, which led to the establishment of an English Surrealist movement. His bold and enigmatic Surrealist paintings, drawings and objects are some of the most enduring images of the movement. He is best known for his post card collages, samples of which are found in major national collections worldwide. Tea hosts this exhibition which brings together pieces of this intellectual British artist and other works of his contemporaries and friends. "(webtenerife.co.uk/events/penrose.htm)

 "In his early twenties Roland Penrose moved to France and there met most of the major figures in Surrealism. Initially he came under the influence of Picasso and Braque but from about 1925 he came into the circles around Breton. Arising from his close friendship with Picasso the 1950 he wrote a sympathetic biography Picasso - His Life and Work, followed by books on Miro, Man Ray and Tapies for Thames and Hudson. In the 1940s he became a gallery owner, collector and art organiser, indeed he founded the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in 1946.
Early in the 1930's Penrose became driven to promote surrealism in Britain. He organised the first International Surrealist Exhibition at the New Burlington Galleries, London, in June 1936. As this was such a key event in surrealism in Britain we will look at this before turning to examine Penrose's own paintings.It was attended by André Breton, Paul Éluard and Salvador Dalí. It included works by many of the emerging Continental surrealists, Victor Brauner, De Chirico, Dali, Oscar Dominguez, Max Ernst, Magritte, Wolfgang Paalen, Yves Tanguy and many others. Also included in the exhibition were some British painters, John Banting, John Selby Bigge, Reuben Mednikoff, Gail Pailthorpe and others. "(surrealism.website/Penrose.html)