Summer Breeze

This is what I have been up to and publishing in the past few weeks:

My Basel Top 10

A big interview and feature on Bruce High Quality Foundation in the latest issue of Sleek (issue 38)

The new bright red issue of Twin (issue 8) containing a ten page interview with Cameron Jamie - a real exclusive - as well as profiles on women behind the scenes in the art world, profiles of artists including Nicholas Deshayes, Raphael Hefti, the writing of Paul Kneale, and artists project from Paul Pieroni, SPACE Studios and Rhys Coren

And I went to Copenhagen for the first time to wander around and conceive an exhibition for September, where I enjoyed Roman Liska at IMO Projects, Tal R at Bo Bjerggaard (pictured above) and Troels Carlsen at V1 gallery.

The Anti-Library

I went to SPACE Studios yesterdays and saw a show that made me laugh a lot. It was a project that I was asked to take part in - an Anti-Library. The starting point was this quote by essayist Nassim Nicholas Taleb: "... a private library is not an ego-boosting appendage but a research tool. Read books are far less valuable than unread ones..."

On the specially created shelving space are book (not read by artists and writers including Jamie Shovlin, Aleksandra Domanovic, Tom Morton, Oliver Laric, Cally Spooner, Tom Ellis, Mark Essen, Yuri Pattison and many others. Each book had the name of the donor inserted accompanied by a text explaining why it had been donated in the giver's own works. Some of them were bloody hilarious and it was a very interesting insight into everyone's bookshelves (who doesnt like rummaging around bookshelves??)

Particularly entertaining choices included Harry Burden donated tome on castration, Dave Hoyland of Seventeen Gallery's self help book on friends of alcoholics and Julie Verhoeven's copy of Erica Jong's Fear of Flying with the cover ripped off. My personal choice was a dusty 60s copy of Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar (ug so dull, that whole rich teen girl depression thing. As I wrote when I was younger I wanted to be Anais Nin not Plath).

The show is open under Dec 17 and I really recommend having a rummage.

Converse/Dazed Artist Award 2011

It's that time of year again. The second installment of the Converse/Dazed Art Award, this year with The Whitechapel Gallery!

Got a great selection of judges alongside me Eva Rothschild, Kirsty Ogg from The Whitechapel, Darren Flook from Hotel, Sadie Coles, SPACE curator Paul Pieroni and myself. Apply here

today and soon

Today I remembered how much I like Wes Lang (top) and had the pleasure of discovering John Copeland's drawings (Below). The Jane Hotel bar may beckon later...

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Back in London soon and will happily be there to hear Paul Pieroni wax lyrical about Systematic at 176. Cant wait. August 7 at 3pm.

While I'm away

I'm in Paris from Monday for 9 whole days - working on an exhibition I'm part-curating at a fashion fair (of all places) about the idea of Excess... While I'm away there are a stupid amount of shows opening in London. Marnie Weber at Simon Lee. Armen Eloyan at Timothy Taylor. Chicks on Speed at Kate McGarry etc

But there is place that has to be seen: SPACE studios, which has been taken over curatorial by Paul Pieroni. Tom Ellis and Richard John Jones kick things off - and there is a mini installation dive bar here by Dean Baldwin (fresh from Venice Biennale). Private view Thursday 3rd September 6pm-9pm.

A bientot...