Open Lecture: The Drawing School for Graphic Arts in Cluj-Napoca

Romanian artist Professor Radu Cãlin Solovastru, joins us on on Thursday 26 May for an open lecture entitled The Drawing School for Graphic Arts in Cluj-Napoca, in which Professor Solovastru will show and discuss his work.

The academic from Universitatea de Arta si Design Cluj-Napoca describes his work as his way of viewing life and that it was through drawing that he “discovered the world”.

“Since early times, drawing was my habit to view life in all its aspects as a perpetual intertwining of events, images, stories, faces, fantasies, actions, feelings, resentments, joys, pains, fulfilments or failures,” he explains.

The lecture will be held in the Lady Hale Lecture Theatre, beginning at 5.30pm, and is open to everyone
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Tickets are limited and you are advised to pre-register to reserve your place. Register online or contact Paul Butlin on 0161 295 5114 or at p.butlin@salford.ac.uk.

Salford Quays Art Comission

“Salford Quays, Manchester’s waterfront, was once the great port through which the nation’s goods flowed around the globe and through which the world’s products entered the country. Now, a century later, Salford Quays emerges as one of the United Kingdom’s great portals to the national and global community, through which knowledge, culture and creativity pass into and out of the country.” Michael Joroff, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, on Salford Quays

The Arts Council and Salford City Council are jointly funding the commissioning of a piece of work for the public realm. The intention is to develop a 'signature' piece that says something distinctive about The Quays.

If you are interested in submitting an idea please contact Kathy Mc Ardle, Kathy.mcardle@thelowry.com or call 0161 876 2097 to obtain a copy of briefing notes.

Richard Proffitt

Richard Proffitt, a gradutate from BA (Hons) Visual Arts has been shortlisted for the prestigious Liverpool Art Prize 2011.

Richard's work is inspired by ancient civilizations, teenage idols, ghost towns, curio ephemera, post-apocalyptic sci-fi films, spaghetti westerns, underground and slacker sub-culture, classroom humour and childhood memory.

The exhibition of shortlisted artists runs from 6 May - 11 June so pop along and see Richard's work. Visit the website for more information.

Today's a good day... to have a good day

"My aim is to use art...in any form, such as imagery, quotations, poetry... basically anything creative to inspire and encourage people to have a good day. The idea is to promote short term happiness to people who you may or may not know." 

Helen Ho, a student on BA (Hons) Visual Arts, has a new project which everyone can take part in. Visit her website to find out more and spread a little happiness.

Google Art Project

Described by Google as 'A unique collaboration with some of the world’s most acclaimed art museums to enable people to discover and view more than a thousand artworks online in extraordinary detail', the Google Art project really does have the potential to deliver a widely accessible experience of the world's most well known museums.

Whilst it will never replace a visit in person - the value of seeing art, it's scale and presence in a setting is uniquely informative - the 'street view' experience should draw in a wide range of people of all ages, internationally, to view art work, see the buildings that house some to the best art collections in the world, and should hopefully result in a wider appreciation of the arts and the value it brings.

Current partners of the project are:

* Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin - Germany
* Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian, Washington DC - USA
* The Frick Collection, NYC - USA
* Gemäldegalerie, Berlin - Germany
* The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC - USA
* MoMA, The Museum of Modern Art, NYC - USA
* Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid - Spain
* Museo Thyssen - Bornemisza, Madrid - Spain
* Museum Kampa, Prague - Czech Republic
* National Gallery, London - UK
* Palace of Versailles - France
* Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam - The Netherlands
* The State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg - Russia
* State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow - Russia
* Tate Britain, London - UK
* Uffizi Gallery, Florence - Italy
* Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam - The Netherlands

It's worth spending a little time to explore this treasure trove for yourself.

Visit the Google Arts Project.

Ben Murphy at The Lowry Outlet Mall

Talented artist Ben Murphy has created this fantastic illustration from tape on a shop unit window at the Lowry Outlet Mall.

Ben, a current student on the MA Contemporary Fine Art masters programme has a brilliant website chronicling his work - I particularly like Albert the Reindeer.

Fleurs Fraiches

It has been widely publicised that David Hockney has taken to using iPhones and iPads to create digital artwork.

In his new exhibition, entitled Fleurs Fraiches David is using the iPad as the canvas to show the artwork in its native environment.  Runing until the 30th January 2011 at La Fondation Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent, Paris, the exhibition is a fantastic example of an artist embracing new technology.

Watch a video of David talking about his work on the BBC website.

Museum of Contemporary Art for London (Moca London)

Charles Saatchi, co-founder of the global advertising company Saatchi & Saatchi is gifting the Saatchi Gallery and over 200 pieces of art to the nation. Artwork includes pieces by Tracey Emin, Grayson Perry and Richard Wilson. Read more on the BBC website.

Visual Arts Degree Show

View the fantastic range of work from graduates of the BA (Hons) Visual Arts Degree Show on our flickr page.

R2D2 meets Rhino

Ji Lee has some fantastic work on his website, the Parallel Worlds project (pictured), Goollery and the All-In-One Card Stamp are my particular favourites.

ArcelorMittal Orbit

Artist Anish Kapoor has collaborated with structural engineer Cecil Balmond of Arup on this unique spiraling sculpture which has been chosen as the landmark monument to the 2012 Olympic Games.


Watch the video on the BBC site to find out more. I was hoping it incorporated a super-sized Carsten Holler style helter-skelter...