A couple of weeks ago I took a walk up into the old town of Valencia. I was mostly heading to the art shop to buy some acrylics, but on my way, I happened upon all manner of lovely sights and distractions.
Some thoughts which sprung to mind below and pictures …
> Calle de la Nave
Amazing feeling of walls towering above. Old streets, history. Streak of blue sky = amazing negative space. Would love to draw, paint, sculpt the feeling of standing on this street. Added to my long list of projects!
> Ana Roig Llabata – Fragil Dificil
I happened upon the lovely little Galerie Cuatro which had an exhibition of a local artist’s work, Ana Roig Llabata. Her exhibition was called Fragil Dificil with some fascinating pieces , a couple of my favourites below …
Firstly, a wall of tiny pieces, each made on a post it note, from various found items.
I love the character and little stories in each of the squares. The king in particular makes me think of Mayan hieroglyphs. And the whole piece reminds of an amazing Mark Dion exhibition I saw at the Whitechapel Gallery earlier this year. In particular his wunderkammer, a take on the old Renaissance habit of collecting a room of curiosities
And my other favourite piece, was this. I think the title translates (from Valencian) as Everything Explodes. And I love that documents the passing of times and technologies with old phones.
Everything Explodes. Ana Roig Llabata.
> La Nau
And a few paces from the gallery I glimpsed the lovely cloisters below …
It turns out that La Nau is the oldest seat of the University of Valencia, dating from 1498. It is also a lively cultural centre, at the time there was a small theatre festival, an upcoming film shorts festival and a fab exhibition about female illustrators. Of course I had to take a nosey in at my second unplanned exhibition visit of the morning.
Post to follow shortly! But what a wonderful morning full of happenings and inspiration.
