The Oscars 2015: Predictions & Film Reviews

OSCARS PREDICTIONS & FILM REVIEWS:

BIRDMAN, THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING, THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL, FOXCATCHER

The Oscars are soon coming upon us, full of controversy about Hollywood racism and sexism, drama and fashion. Everything we love to talk and fight over.

Here are my 2015 Predictions:

1. Best Picture:

Nominees: Whiplash, Birdman, The Imitation Game, The Theory of Everything, Selma, Boyhood, The Grand Budapest Hotel

Will go to Boyhood, and deservedly so. Even though I haven’t seen the movie, I hear that it is very good, and for a director to spend 12 years of his life following and filming the life of a boy becoming a man, this deserves all the plaudits it can get. It’s a cinematic feat to having achieved it and I love the concept. (I love that Grand Budapest Hotel has received a nod though, see below review).

All photographs in this post have been poached from some internet site. NHYM 2015

2. Best Actor

Nominees: Eddie Redmayne (Theory of Everything), Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game), Bradley Cooper, Michael Keaton (Birdman), Steve Carrell (Foxcatcher)

It will be a battle between Eddie Redmayne in ‘The Theory of Everything‘ versus Michael Keaton’s Birdman. As you can read in the below review, I wasn’t bowled over by the movie Birdman and don’t think he deserves to win I’m afraid. But it is Hollywood, and with a majority of 60 year old white jurors, you never know. I think Eddie Redmayne will win it, with a Golden Globe and SAG award already under his belt. (Personally, I would have loved Steve Carrell in Foxcatcher https://nottinghillmummy.com/2014/10/23/london-film-festival-2014-foxcatcher-the-new-girlfriend/ to win as I thought he was absolutely brilliant in it. But hey, I clearly don’t fit the Oscar juror profile).

3. Best Director

Nominees: Richard Linklater (Boyhood), Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Birdman), Bennett Miller (Foxcatcher), Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel), Morten Tyldum (The Imitation Game).

Will also go to Richard Linklater, as above mentioned for Boyhood. Best Director and Best Picture often go hand in hand, which makes sense, although The Theory of Everything missed out on Best Director whilst Foxcatcher missed out on Best Picture. Another happy nod to Wes Anderson as Best Director!

4. Best Actress

Nominees: Julianne Moore (Still Alice), Marillon Cotillard (Two Days, One Night), Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything), Reese Witherspoon (Wild), Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl).

Julianne Moore is loved by Hollywood and America. She can do no wrong and will win in her performance in ‘Still Alice.’ Everyone loves a physical and emotional transformation in a film. This is a sure bet. Rosamund Pike will miss out, although she is eerily terrific in Gone Girl. A nice nod to Marillon Cotillard for her performance in Two Days, One Night, the best french actress of our times (aka the French, younger version of Meryl Streep), whose performance in Of Rust and Bone was completely missed last year, which was a shame. Felicity Jones is trailing last in this race, but give her time and she may mature into an Oscar-worthy actress (see my review below).

5. Best Supporting Actor:

Nominees: JK Simmons (Whiplash), Mark Ruffalo (Foxcatcher), Edward Norton (Birdman), Robert Duvall (The Judge)

JK Simmons in Whiplash will win, he who is more commonly known for his TV performances in some crime series aka Law & Order, as he provides a cringeworthy and intense performance as a tyrannical music teacher, which will beat all of his contenders in this fight.

6. Best Supporting Actress:

Nominees: Patricia Arquette (Boyhood), Meryl Streep (Into the Woods), Laura Dern (Wild), Emma Stone (Birdman), Keira Knightley (The Imitation Game)

Rosanna Arquette in Boyhood will win although I really enjoyed Emma Stone in Birdman, and we can bow down to Meryl Streep for her *101st* nomination.

* With 17 or 19 Academy Award Nominations and 29 Golden Globe Nominations, I am sure I am not far off…

FILM REVIEWS: The Theory of Everything, Birdman, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Foxcatcher

I recently discovered the Lounge at Whiteleys, which has become a second home to Mr. X and me. The ‘Business Class’ reclining seats successfully accomplish making a trip to the cinema worth it. Of course, I have one friend who feels an anxiety attack coming on when she sits in one of the seats, bringing on flashbacks of her flying for work, something she has happily given up long ago, while I hear others are bothered by the hamburger smells coming from their neighbour’s tray, which, when you aren’t eating, can be quite unappealing. But since I don’t have the patience to book a movie 1 month in advance for the Electric, The Lounge beats the regular Kensington High Street Odeon (or Westfield) any time!

The Theory of Everything

I actually enjoyed watching the Theory of Everything, and Eddie Redmayne is faultless in his performance of Stephen Hawking. The control he had physically in this part was tremendous and his nerdy-but-genius charisma worked very well. The trouble with the film is two-fold; it ended up being a rather sticky sweet, syrupy movie which didn’t really delve in the depths of the mental trauma of getting a life-threatening, catastrophic illness, and the emotional impact of it. Nor did Felicity Jones feel that believable as she aged. As a young university student, I think she was perfect. But as an ageing, possibly bitter, emotionally and physically exhausted woman who had lost her husband in some ways, she lacked the depth or maturity (or personal suffering) to convey the true emotions of a woman going through, let’s face it, hell. I don’t mean to criticise her, for she is a lovely, posh actress, but she is green and I think that they should have chosen a more mature woman for the part of Stephen Hawking’s wife as a mother and carer. All in all, a good film, I enjoyed learning about his triumphs over nature and his own body, and it was very watchable, but it was a bit too Hollywood-esque for me. A Beautiful Mind, was for me, a more beautiful movie.

Best for: Date Night

Rating: 4 stars

Birdman

Birdman is the film that the whole film industry is rooting for, with endless nominations, wins and glowing critiques. I went expecting a life-changing film as one film critic described it, but left not quite satisfied with the movie, as if I had eaten a 3 star Michelin meal, but that was too heavy for me and left my tummy unsettled. The film industry loves it because it is about actors and performing arts, and the film industry loves itself, which makes it rather self-indulgent. The cinematic feat of making it appear as one long take is a new visual skill that makes it quite exciting, another reason it received so many nominations. And the acting is actually quite good; Edward Norton is excellent as an arrogant, aggressive self aggrandising actor, Emma Stone has the right mixture of vulnerability and anger that a teenager/young adult should have and Michael Keaton is overall quite good at playing himself (although does not deserve to win Best Actor when there are so many great actors like Eddie Redmayne and Steve Carell competing). As an ensemble, they deserve to win best acting. As a whole though, the movie for me just didn’t quite to it for me. I felt that I could have skipped traipsing down to the movie theatre for it. Which is why I am not in the Film Industry; I just don’t get it.

Best for: Waiting for the DVD and watching it on your home projector

Rating: 3.5 stars (for the excellent acting)

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Wes Anderson is like Marmite, you either love him or hate him. I generally love him, even though I can’t stand marmite. I particularly loved Moonrise Kingdom, The Royal Tennenbaums and The Darjeeling Limited. His characters and story lines are quirky, inventive, and unique, always bringing light to the underdogs. He breaks taboos and shows real humans in their flawed glory. The Grand Budapest Hotel is just that, with Ralph Fiennes shagging old ladies, while showing the strength of loyalty between Master and Servant. His characters always end up loveable and flawed.

Best For: Double Date night

Rating: 4 Stars

Foxcatcher

In October, I predicted Best Actor, Best Director and a Best Soundtrack nominations for Foxcatcher, and I wasn’t too far off as it has bagged Best Actor, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best original screenplay and Best Hair & Make-up (which it will win) nominations. This movie waited almost a whole year to be released at the right time, in the fall, in order to pick up some nominations, so I’m glad the wait was worth it. Channing Tatum may have been overlooked in the nominations, but I question whether he was playing a lot of himself rather than the role. Hats off for the nominations!

London Film Festival 2014: Foxcatcher & The New Girlfriend

NHYM

http://www.nottinghillyummymummy.com

Reviews

The Colony Grill Room

Where… ‘I feel like Batman entering Gotham City’

The Beaumont Hotel

8 Balderton Street

Brown Hart Gardens

London W1K 6TF

0207 499 9499

https://www.colonygrillroom.com

Food: 3.75 stars

Ambience: 4 stars

Design: 4 stars

Service: 3.5 stars

Value: 4 stars

Overall: 3.75 stars

Introduction:

For those who missed last Saturday’s review of The Colony Grill by Giles Coren, who gave it a trillion rating, The Colony Grill Room has a lot to live up to. AA Gill also gave it **** (someone must have spiked his drinks). It is the latest restaurant from the Mushroom-Restaurant-Kings of restaurants, Corbin & King (Mushroom-Restaurant-Kings: restaurateurs whose restaurants open up like mushrooms growing overnight), who have opened their first hotel in Mayfair, the Beaumont. Their collection of restaurants famously includes the The Ivy, The Wolseley, Delauney’s, Colbert, and most recently Fischer’s. The Wolseley is my personal favourite, with its beautiful atrium room, which is floodlit with light, and a perfect stop for afternoon shopping on Bond Street, or for a naughty ‘sick day’ which makes you feel like a teenager playing hookie.

NHYM 2014

The Beaumont

When I arrived at The Beaumont Hotel, I immediately felt like I was Batman arriving in a restaurant in Gotham City. The big, white, imposing building with up-lighting with an impressive structural and architectural sculpture by Antony Gormley on it’s Upper Left Corner, a cross between a gargoyle and The Thing from the Fantastic Four, could easily hide some bats, a bat helicopter, or a Batman Villain like Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Mr. Freeze. The lobby entrance is very Art Deco, with beautiful dark wood and white leather armchairs, art deco mirrors and black and white tiles; this is not your typical London hotel experience with swanky modern or minimalist Phillipe-Starkesque interiors. It is quite the opposite; it is a new hotel which tries to look old-school old, despite being born in 2014, it pretends to be born in 1924. Especially entering the Hotel bar, do you feel this even more so. There are three walls full of black and white photographs of Silver Screen Actors, with a bar called Jimmy’s, you wouldn’t expect anything less. It is working hard to make itself a classic, even before being one.

NHYM 2014

The Restaurant

The wait for the table was excessively long, but luckily for us, the American bar was dark and enjoyable enough to keep us waiting for 45 minutes (which our chippy host was not too impressed with). The Restaurant is retro, old school, and very masculine with heavy leather banquettes. It was like entering a Film Set; I could imagine Jessica Rabbit having dinner in the corner with Warren Beatty in a room full of Hemingway and Fitzgerald type prints. It is an attractive room despite being windowless. Although Keira Knightely was spotted here recently, this restaurant did not feel like it was for young, trendy, things but the crowd seemed more 40-50 than 20-30 so this a place where texting (and sexting) and vlogging at the dinner table would be frowned upon. So, our dinner conversation was appropriately grown-up centred on the latest divorce of friends whose husband had caught his wife shagging their sexy builder, who we all agreed was better looking than the current pouchy, balding husband, and someone’s teenage son sexting a message to ‘mum’ instead of ‘mary.’ These things actually happen, even in West London.

Image courtesy of the internet. 2014.

The Menu

The menu is appropriately, what you could call ‘American Comfort Food.’ It was clearly made for an American clientele. Perhaps King & Corbin thought that they could draw the Americans to this hotel if they packed it with the American favourites like Mac & Cheese £8.75), Sundaes (£8.25) and New York Strip Steaks (£35). It definitely was not intended for French in mind: ‘What eez zees? An Iceberg for a Salad? Non! Icebergs are only for zee Titanic!’ Noo Yorrk Ot Dog for £9.50? I can fly Ryanair to Noo Yorrk for zat kind of monay!’ Why do zay call zem ze ‘Plats du Jour?’ Are we in Noo Yorrk or in Parrris? Make up yourr mind! Enfin!’

Image courtesy of the internet. 2014.

The Food

The food had some hits and misses. A lot of dishes on the menu were not very complicated and could really be done easily by your 3 year old; iceberg wedge with blue cheese dressing (£6.25), which seemed very popular, was exactly as stated, a big wedge of iceberg with some dressing on it. The Shrimp Cocktail was not excitingly imaginative, with 6 shrimp hanging off a cocktail glass, which was quite spicy but not as tasty. The Colony Club Salad was a deconstructed Club sandwich with colourful stripes of green cucumbers, red tomatoes, yellow cheese, brown bacon and green/yellow avocado. Nice idea, and nice combination. This was comfort food but not quite what I would call fine dining.

Shrimp cocktail courtesy of the internet. 2014.

We ordered the Porterhouse for the table, which was to share, and I must admit that it was a delicious Porterhouse. Perfectly cooked, perfectly chosen piece of high quality meat and melt-in-your-mouth tender. It was succulent on its own, and I made the mistake of dousing it with peppercorn sauce and the Bernaise to placate my FOMO. The peppercorn lacked double cream and had too much brandy, the Bernaise had some taste, but not the right taste, so in my opinion, the Porterhouse was best on its own. Finally, the desserts were Sundaes which you could conjure up on a piece of cardboard and pencil with choices of ice cream, sauces (caramel/chocolate etc…), and toppings. To an American, a childhood delight. Finally, the Red Velvet Cake which we chose to share just did not compare to the Hummingbird Bakery one.

Image courtesy of the internet. 2014.

The Verdict

For the Americans homesick for some good old American comfort food, The Colony Grill hits the spot. Yes, it may be a bit ‘Normcore’ but to some, that’s all that is needed to reach happiness. The food is simple, but to many Americans, simple is a good thing. ‘Don’t try overcomplicate, simplify’. Of course, if you are newly divorced and trying to impress your new 25 year old, French girlfriend, this may not be quite the place to take her, she may be happier texting and vlogging to Beyonce at Hakkassan.

NHYM

http://www.nottinghillyummymummy.com

@NHyummymummy

Reviews

Review: Wormwood Restaurant

‘…there’s a new Wormwood/In our hood/Gotta try its so good/Chef Rabah Ourrad/He’s a chef-rapper/Who loves his Lobster.

Wormwood Restaurant

16 All Saints Road

London W11 1HH

0207 854 1808

http://www.wormwoodrestaurant.com

(All Photos courtesy of the internet for this post)

Food: 4 stars

Atmosphere: 4 stars

Service: 4.25 stars

Value/money: 3.75 stars

Design: 4 stars

Overall: 4 stars

The Restaurant

The latest foodie addition to Notting Hill is Wormwood, a Mediterranean restaurant in what some people call the dodgier part of NH/W11. I have been meaning to try this restaurant for quite some time now, having read very good reviews, the most recent from Giles Coren last Saturday, who highly rated the food, less so the concept of ‘sharing plates.’ All Saints Road is having somewhat of a revival, from the Rum Kitchen to the Wormwood Restaurant, and is becoming the Hollywood Road of the North; a quiet road with an international restaurant across from a rowdy, rustic Italian. ‘Wormwood’ really is a tragic name for a restaurant though, didn’t the owners know that Wormwood Scrubs is a prison just a few miles away? Or is it purposefully a commentary about the dream of two Algerians who now co-own their restaurant, proving that the underdogs can come out on top? (Chef Rabah Ourrad has an interesting background of a young Algerian-in-Paris-rapper-turned-chef with stints at Momo’s, Sketch and the Ledbury. I would like to sit in his kitchen while he raps ‘Le Micro Brise Le Silence’ over his truffle emulsion).

In any case, it is a light and airy restaurant with colours of green, blues and white patterns with some olive trees in its terrace to keep it, well, very Mediterranean. The crowd is quite grown up looking for an exciting change from ‘Michelin star’ type restaurants, which do get repetitive after a while (I must admit that my experience of Marianne’s of Masterchef fame down the road was disappointingly underwhelming, hence why I have not reviewed it). The concept here is keeping high standards of cooking techniques in a more relaxed ‘sharing plates’ style, ‘elegant yet relaxed,’ as it likes to be described. There is a lovely back area, which can be privatised, and also acts as an art gallery.

(Smoked Aubergine)

The Food

Sharing plates is the hot trend of the moment for restaurants, and Notting Hill is no exception; Polpo, the Shed and Mazi are just a few of the recent openings in the past few years. Mazi, a nouveau-Greek, showed how simple Greek food can be elevated to sophisticated food, using ingredients like Rice Paper for the Souvlaki instead of your regular old Gyro bread. It is international cuisine with a twist. Wormwood to me is the Morrocan version of Mazi, trying to create nouveau Moroccan inspired dishes. If you like Mazi, you should try Wormwood. The lobster couscous with lobster bisque is delicious, the beetroot salad cleanses the palate and allows space for the foie gras which is another distinctive dish. There is pork belly tagine, sea bass dishes, and lots of aubergine. The cauliflower truffle combo is becoming my new craving, which I also found here at Wormwood, almost as good as the cauliflower and truffle mousse from Nuno Mendes’ Chiltern Firehouse. At some point though, it felt as if my palate wanted just two or three ingredients per course, rather than 6 ingredients per plate, with 10 plates for four (Example: Scallops ceviche with redcurrant dressing, coriander cress, and homemade limoncello gel. That means 60 different ingredients in one sitting).

(Lobster Couscous)

The menu offers inventive and unique dishes blending Morrocan, French, Spanish and Lebanese influences, and bringing unusual ingredients together. But it all rather works. The dishes are quite sophisticated in their presentations and have more ingredients than necessary (he just couldn’t resist showing off his jellies and mousses) that they turn out quite foodie but difficult to share. The service was excellent and we were impressed by our waitress’ poetic memory of all the dishes and ingredients per plate. It felt as if the rapper Chef wanted to prove his fine dining skills and creativeness while ‘keeping it real,’ which suits All Saints Road perfectly.

The Verdict: The older, more sophisticated brother of Mazi restaurant for those who are tired of Michelin-star restaurants formality. Great for a grown-up dinner with ‘couple-friends’ who don’t know each other very well. If there’s a break in the conversation, the food is always a conversation starter.

NHYM

http://www.nottinghillyummymummy.com

@NHyummymummy

(Homemade Cocktails)

Reviews

London Film Festival 2014: Foxcatcher & The New Girlfriend

The London Film Festival ended last Sunday but I still managed to fit in two Premieres in my busy schedule. It is less about red carpet glitz and glamour (which lasts about 10 minutes), and more about the love of film and showing off London’s creative enthusiasm for indie, international and art house films. I chose two films to see this year, Foxcatcher and The New Girlfriend, from two very different directors; Bennett Miller who makes a movie every four years (Capote, Moneyball) and Francois Ozon (The Swimming Pool, 8 Women, Jeune et Jolie), a prolific French director who makes approximately one movie per year. Miller took eight years to make this project reality and found it difficult to find funding for this movie since Hollywood these days is more about Blockbusters than making great films. Ozon proudly doesn’t make high budget films so that he can have full creative control of his films. The Q&A sessions with the directors and actors is my favourite part of the festival, providing insight into the motivation and passion behind the making of these films.The London Film Festival is a place for talented directors to showcase their creativity and share it with cinephiles like myself who prefer to watch ‘proper’ films rather than action-film/ marvel-comics/Blockbusters.

Foxcatcher

Rating: 4 stars

My Oscars prediction:

– Best Actor: Steve Carrell (must win)

– Best Director: Bennett Miller (nomination)

– Best Soundtrack: Foxcatcher (hope it wins)

Foxcatcher is a dark, disturbing, drama based on a true story about a pro wrestler who finds himself in a twisted and uncomfortable partnership with one of America’s richest men, John E Dupont, played by Steve Carrell, who attempts to create ‘the best wrestling team in America’. The movie looks into the cringeworthy and gritty life of a pro-wrestler, Mark Schultz, played by Channing Tatum, who despite having won a Gold Olympic Medal in wrestling, lives a depressing, tortured life in America, in the shadow of his greater, older brother, Dave Schultz, played by Mark Ruffalo, the more charismatic, charming and intelligent brother that spends his life looking after his younger brother. One of the early scenes of the movie shows the two brothers wrestling like two deer fighting, showing the physicality and imbalance of their relationship. Channing Tatum is perfectly cast as Mark Schultz, the naive, influenceable, not-so-intelligent, hulk-like, younger brother with cauliflower ears full of vulnerability (Tatum brilliantly plays the part, but it is difficult to tell whether he is really acting or whether he is just playing himself).

For those who have read my article on the SuperRich, this movie looks into the life of one SuperRich man, John E Dupont, who grows up a social misfit, trying to constantly prove himself to himself and to his mother, and convinces Mark Schultz to wrestle for him, by using his intellectual and financial superiority. He probably uses him to get to his brother Dave Schultz. Steve Carrell, who plays John E Dupont, is superb and unrecognisable as the actor you previously knew him as. No longer the funny-man, Carrell transforms himself into a lonely, unsettling, socially awkward, yet powerful John E. Dupont, who manipulates people around him to do exactly what he wants. Carrell is looking at an Oscar nomination (for sure), and possibly a win (he will deserve it). I would watch this movie purely for Carrell’s performance, which gives us an insight into a disturbed SuperRich, who never has to achieve but feels the need to make his mark, and that wants sympathy when he says his only friend growing up was paid for by his mother, but does not know how to be a friend.

The breakdown of the relationship between Mark Schultz and John E Dupont could have been better developed in my opinion, leaving the viewer unsure exactly happened. The movie slows down towards the end, at points I found it too long, and I would have wanted more of a build up to the climax. And then, like life, the movie completely changes in an instant, the foreshadowing too evident, and it ends too depressingly for words. This is not a movie of words and dialogue, it is a movie based on reality, on unhappiness, and therefore by definition, is not a Hollywood movie.

Verdict: This is a dramatic and dark film worth watching for Steve Carrell’s Oscar-worthy performance and transformation and to see Channing Tatum finally turn into a real actor.

The New Girlfriend

Rating: 4 stars

Francois Ozon is the French answer to Pedro Almodovar, so if you don’t appreciate Pedro, there’s no point in reading any further. He has directed 15 feature length films in 16 years and is one of the most prolific French directors of our time. He often delves into themes of sexuality and gender roles, and pushes the boundaries as far as he can. He directs his films in a similar way to Almadovar, fantasy-full, unbelievable and filmed through rose/orange/purple-tinted lenses. For this film, as Ozon mentioned in the Q & A session, he wanted it to be a modern fairy tale about unexpected love. I will keep the twist to myself, as the film is best seen undistracted.

The first 10 minutes of the film are my favourite part of the entire film; it is a montage of the beginning of a friendship, a love between two friends and death that tears them apart. I was in floods of tears after those five minutes, and to me, this could have sufficed as a short film on its own. It reminded me of the more elaborate, longer, more melodramatic ‘Beaches,’ a story of friendship and love, which remains to this day, close to my heart. I am a romantic in all kinds of love, including the beauty of friendship.

The movie is about a young husband’s reaction to grief of losing his wife in a most unusual way and how he deals with being left to care for a small baby, played by Romain Duris (who is rather good and comfortable playing this role). He asks his wife’s best friend for help and advice, played by Anais Demoustier, who becomes embroiled into his secret, and isn’t sure where to turn. Romain Duris (The Beat that my Heart Skipped, Heartbreaker) plays a wonderful protagonist who is easy and fun to watch, against Anais Demoustier, an expressive and likeable actress whose name you will hear more of in the future. The film is mostly endearing because of its actors, but it feels at times confused, and quite convoluted, but I still enjoyed it nevertheless.

Verdict: If you love Pedro Almodovar, you will love Francois Ozon’s films, so check it out.

NHYM

http://www.nottinghillyummymummy.com

@NHyummymummy

In the Press, Reviews

VIP Collector’s Preview Day Frieze Art Fair 2014 & PAD 2014

I was lucky enough to get invites to both the VIP Collector’s Preview Day at the Frieze Art Fair 2014 and the VIP Collector’s Preview Day at PAD Art + Design Fair this past Tuesday October 14th 2014. Two fairs, one person. What to do? A bit of Art hopping and hobnobbing was in order. Not that I am Art expert or a major Art collector to deserve the honour. For those who may be intimidated by the whole ‘Art world,’ and view it as inaccessible, abstract, cultural elitism, don’t be fooled. Frieze is just about creativity as it is about the economic Art market. An auctioneer once told me that the big auction houses are just like vultures, when a big art collector is dying, the auction houses circle around until the last breath and then pounce. The condolence cards could just as well read ‘We are very sorry for your loss and will happily find buyers for your collection.’

FRIEZE 2014

The Fair

Frieze week has become more than two Art fairs (Frieze and Frieze Masters) in Regent’s Park. It is one of the cultural events of the year, with gallery parties, openings and shows all over town, auction houses like Sotheby’s and Christie’s auctioning away, and this week attracts some of the biggest Artists, Art dealers, Art collectors, gallery owners and Art lovers coming from every corner of the world. The Frieze VIP Collector’s Preview Day is one of the hottest tickets, reserved for serious collectors, gallerists, Artists, Art dealers, a few celebs, the press and a few onlookers like me. This year, after 11 years of practice, the fair seemed cozier than usual, more mature, and less souk-like.

The People

I arrived at the Frieze Preview Day late afternoon, where I met Mr. X, and entered the fair at the same time as Sienna Miller, who was sporting her baby-accessory on her right hip, along with her husband, on the other hip. For just a split second, I had baby envy: no, not hers, I wanted my little one with me hanging off my hip, bringing her around to hip events like the Frieze. That thought quickly was banished from my mind, imagining myself dragging a toddler around an Art fair who would be more interested in deconstructing the art, rather than appreciating ‘art deconstructionism.’

The ‘Arterati’ provided excellent people watching, as usual, from the green haired up-and-coming artists, the proven artists (Tracey Emin spotted), the leather and fur wearing collectors, and many, many dealers. This year’s preview felt overpowered by the dealers rather than the collectors, brokering deals with their clients over their Android phones.

For a real insider’s guide to the Art World, read Sarah Thornton’s ‘7 Days in the Art World:’ http://www.amazon.co.uk/Seven-Days-World-Sarah-Thornton/dp/1847080847

The Art

The question around Modern Art is always, ‘What constitutes Art?’ ‘And when does something become a piece of art?’ A shoe in a glass case. A cereal box. The Thomas Dane gallery, who is credited for starting Steve McQueen’s career, had on display supermarket crates as a piece of Art. Can anyone tell me the meaning/expression of supermarket crates? Did I just miss the point of it? Does it mean consumerism, waste or just that someone forgot to return the crates after they were done unloading the Art?

My equations of Art:

Artist+Expression=Art.

Viewer+Art=Emotion+Thought.

Art+Collector=Lots of Money.

Victoria Miro Art Gallery exhibiting the likes of Kusama Yayoi.

UNITED GALLERY. One of the most talked about exhibits, the famous Fukushima soup, ‘Does this Soup Taste Ambivalent?’ from the United Brothers, is a soup made by their mother from radishes from Fukushima. It defies the viewer to try the soup, which may or may not be radioactive. Needless to say, I did not see a line of people waiting to try the soup.

Frieze Project: Nick Mauss ‘Living Stage.’ Performance Art featured highly at this year’s Frieze like this ballet performance.

Another performance, this time involving the public, who seemed to read off a script for what looked like a Film audition.

Playful children’s themes, like Mickey Mouse, Snoopy, Cereal boxes and stuffed animal displays brought a light side to the Frieze.

This B&W photograph of books was one of my favourite pieces of Art at the Frieze. To me, it evoked my love of books, and my personal feeling and emotion of comfort and safety from being surrounded by books.

PAD: Pavilion of Art + Design Fair, Berkeley Square

If the Frieze were a colour, it would be white; white tent, white paths, white walls, whereas the PAD Art+Design Fair would be Black, black walls and blackouts (there were about 6 blackouts throughout the preview day). Despite the blackouts, the fair was a sleek, sparkly and shiny, furniture-heavy event. There was a mix of ethnic, contemporary, jewellery and design pieces. An aquamarine necklace was on sale for £400,000 and had its own personal jewellery bodyguard. There were some great light installations, sculptures and an art deco table that I could see in my house. There were more pieces at PAD, in my opinion, that I could live with than at Frieze.

A furniture display that could easily fit in my home.

Alexander Calder.

We finished off our night at the Arts Club, where we saw Beyonce and Jay Z at the Upstairs bar. I am pleased to say that I was feeling on trend, wearing black leather trousers and a black blazer, just like Beyonce. I must be recovering from my Fashionitis ;).

NHYM

http://www.nottinghillyummymummy.com

@NHyummymummy

In the Press, Reviews

Top 10 Art Events in London, October 2014

Bertrand Lavier Fountain at the Serpentine Gallery

ARTOBER

October should be renamed ‘Artober‘, as the line up of Art this month in London is extravagant and impressive, from the Frieze to the London Film Festival, the entire Art World will be descending unto London, competing savagely for exposure, clients and prestige. From Modern Art to Film, to the Frieze masters to fountains out of garden hoses, there is something for everyone who appreciates Art. The private view invites have been stacking up in my e/mail, enticing me to all of them but since I won’t be able to tele-transport myself to each and every one of them, I have chosen my Top 10 picks that I would go to, if a tele-transporting machine existed. I will review my Top 3 over the next few weeks.

Below are my TOP 10 Art Events going on around town this October:

1. British Film Institute London Film Festival: 8th to the 19th of October. From Channing Tatum as a wrestler, Benedicte Cumberbatch at war, a ‘Fury’ Brad Pitt, and a ‘Wild’ Reese Witherspoon, the red carpet promises to showcase some of the best emerging as well as experienced acting talent. http://www.bfi.org.uk/lff

2. Frieze Art Fair Preview day and VIP Collectors Preview: Tuesday, October 14. Open to the pubic: 15-19th October. http://friezelondon.com

3. PAD London Art+Design Fair: Preview & Collector’s Day Tuesday October 14th. Open to the public 15-19th October. http://www.pad-fairs.com/london/en/

4. Sigmar Polke: Alibis. Opening at the Tate Modern: Private view Wednesday October 8th. October 9 – February 8 2015. http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/alibis-sigmar-polke-1963-2010

5. Rembrandt: The Late Works at the National Gallery: Private view Tuesday 14th. Open to public October 15 to January 18, 2015. http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/rembrandt

6. Damien Hirst new exhibit ‘Schizophrenogenesis’ at the Paul Stopler Gallery. October 9- November 15th 2014. A pill-popping exhibit, which attempts to keep Damien Hirst relevant.

7. Bertrand Lavier Fountain Opening on Wednesday October 13th at the Serpentine Gallery. This artist uses everyday objects which he turns into art, in this case, ‘jets of water emanate from an unruly mass of garden hoses’. http://www.serpentinegalleries.org/exhibitions-events/bertrand-lavier-fountain-2014

8. Tracey Emin: ‘The Last Great Adventure is You’ at White Cube Gallery. October 8- November 16, 2014. The Last Great Adventure is You, is her latest work, and initially started as ‘a reference to the ‘other person’; however, over the two year period since she began creating this body of work, she came to realise that the implication was once again coming back to the self’. http://whitecube.com/exhibitions/tracey_emin_the_last_great_adventure_is_you_bermondsey_2014/

9. Steve McQueen at the Thomas Dane Gallery. Tuesday October 14 – November 15. The award-winning film maker and artist shows two works, a film based and an object based work which, ‘hovers between the specific and the universal, the literal and the abstract, evading definition and multiplying experiential and interpretive possibilities’. http://www.thomasdanegallery.com/artists/45-Steve-McQueen/exhibitions/

10. Self: Bacon, Hirst, Koons and Picasso at the Ordovas Gallery. October 14 – December 13, 2014. Self ‘looks at the interpretations of self-portraiture of four of the greatest artists of the 20th century, spanning the modern and contemporary eras’. http://www.ordovasart.com
xx

NHYM

http://www.nottinghillyummymummy.com

@NHyummymummy

Reviews

Review: Private Member’s Club, The Arts Club

Quote of the Day: ‘Hello! Is it me you’re looking for?’

The Arts Club

40 Dover Street

London W1S 4NP

02074998581

http://www.theartsclub.co.uk

Food: 4.25 stars

Design: 4.5 stars

Ambience: 4 stars

Service: 4 stars

Value for Money: 3.5/4 stars

Overall: 4.25 stars

(Ground floor restaurant. Photo courtesy of the internet)

Lately, I have been going to the Arts Club on a weekly or biweekly basis, after not going for almost a year. But then all of a sudden, everyone seems to want to go; guests from out of town, girls dinners or those wanting to try Kyubi, the – relatively – new delicious Japanese on the roof, which is now one of my firm favourites. Perhaps it’s a backlash to the Chiltern Firehouse craze and just wanting the simplicity of an easy reservation made on Friday morning for Friday night, and a predictably good meal (which is not always the case at Chiltern). The great thing about the Arts Club is that you never know what kind of night you’re going to have or who you’re going to sit next to, which creates a never-ending curiosity. Last week, I had Lionel Ritchie sitting next to me. I had to stop myself from singing ‘Hello! Is it me you’re looking for?’ and telling him all the great memories I’ve had with his songs as a young, hot-blooded teenager. With celebrities, you always feel a familiarity and intimacy that they of course sense as ‘obsessive crazy fan.’ Luckily, I stopped myself just in time. In any case, at the Arts Club, you never know if you’ll have a night of octogenarian, zimmer-frame grannies & grandpas, arms dealers from somewhere far East or South, Russian billionaires, Mark Francis Vandelli of Made In Chelsea (actually, he is there nightly, usually at the ground floor bar), Naomi Campbell or some kind of HRH Beatrice/Eugenie/Philip/Harry.

The Club

The Arts Club is housed in a beautiful building on Dover Street (home to Mahiki, Mayfair Club and the new Victoria Beckham store). It was co-founded by Charles Dickens in 1863 and has had a myriad of artists and patrons guests and members over the years such as Turgenev, Rodin and Degas. It is currently over 4 different floors: the basement Club Nouveau Nightclub has heard impromptu guests like Gwenyth Paltrow and Ronnie Woods performing and is now advertising private concerts with performers like Will.i.am and Lauryn Hill. The ground floor restaurant, the Brasserie, is a glamorous, art deco room with a clientele mix of everything from Joan Collins, Roman Abramovic to Pamela Anderson look-alikes. There is a lot of trout here, no, not on the menu, just in the form of trout pouts. The outdoor seating area is a garden of delight, for balmy summer evenings.

(Outdoor garden. Photo courtesy of the internet)

The bar on the first floor is a rounded bar leading to another dining area, with a similar but shorter menu from the ground floor restaurant. It tends to have a slightly younger crowd, full of girls dinners, hedge fund managers, and women wearing more porn-than-prude clothing. My inner granny self wants to cover them with a pashmina and tell them to go home to a nice cup of tea. Finally, the rooftop is home to Kyubi, a Japanese with offerings similar to Nobu/Zuma. The best part of this restaurant is the roof-terrace area, which takes you to a rooftop Riad in Morocco. Except with sashimi instead of tagine.

(Roof terrace at Kyubi. Photo courtesy of the Internet)

The Food

The menu at the Arts Club, created by one of the chefs from ‘La Petite Maison,’ offers some great staple dishes with great flavours. If you like La Petite Maison, you will most likely like the food here. The menu is extensive with about 12 starters, an entire section for shellfish (oysters and lobster), two types of tartares, and another 16 main dishes. This is a place you can come to over and over again without ever getting too bored too quickly of the menu, which is a plus for a member’s clubs. The food beats the Electric and 5 Hertford Street hands down purely on food. Some of my favourites are the escargots, yellowtail ceviche, and green bean starters, the steak tartare, the Club salad, and the herb crusted veal chop (delicious, the only place I actually allow myself to indulge in a poor-little-veal-meal). There are better-than-other dishes, so it’s just a matter of finding the ones that you fancy. It is piggy-bank-breaking expensive, so save those pennies.

(Toro. Photo courtesy of the Internet)

The food at Kyubi is also delicious, featuring mini taco-type starter bites which are divine, the tuna avocado one is definitely one to order. The new stream sashimi, with different kinds of salmon and tuna sashimi with yuzu and citrus flavours are all mouth-watering (really, my mouth is salivating as I write this). The lobster tempura is worth it just for the visual sculpture of fried-noodle coral. You just have to see it. The plain sashimi is not their best asset, so i wouldn’t boast too much about it. The vegetable skewers of asparagus and mushrooms are similar to the ones at Zuma, I could eat them as a vegetarian meal with a little rice on the side.

The Ambience

Ah, the ambience. Like I previously mentioned, it is a revolving door of multi-cultural nationalities and personalities. Arabs mingle with Jews, Russians compete with Americans for how loud they can be, the Chinese and Nepalese (or wherever they were from) are either dressed in jeans and T-shirts or Chanel, the Nigerians like the gospel Sunday brunch. Every Super Rich nationality in London is represented here. It is what you could call a global, moneyed club, that only requires connections and a plush bank account for entry. Let’s say it how it is. This club is mostly for Art Patron members these days rather than for artists. The club was renovated in 2011 when its membership and bank account was dwindling to attract a glitzier, glamorous, wealthy crowd to inject ‘modern money’ into the club. With Gwenyth and her friends promoting the club in 2011, it was guaranteed to attract attention. Still, the club offers lectures in how to collect art, private views to the Royal Academy or the Frieze, and talks about fine wine and fashion (I recently missed a talk by Diane Von Furstenburg). There are even events for children, like Easter Parties, circus and painting events.

(Club Nouveau. Photo courtesy of the Internet)

Apart from some wonderful events – that I always mean to go to but never go to – the people-watching is just conversation-stopping. Victoria Beckham just recently celebrated one of her 40th birthday dinners there with Gordon Ramsay et. al. Beyonce and Jay Z came as well last time they were in London. And then there are moments when you see the clientele and wonder ‘just where in the world are they from?’ There are women who are wearing not much more than Miley Cyrus on a good day. There are men who look like they are making some dodgy business dealings involving governments, commodities, arms and pipelines. It is a spectacle of cosmopolitan London, for those wanting to keep their dealings behind closed doors.

The Verdict

The Arts Club is an artfully decorated member’s club oozing glamour and coolness, in each of its restaurants, bars, and nightclub. The United Nations clientele provides endless entertainment, intriguing, beguiling and sometimes plain bizarre (Lady Gaga has been a guest). But the food is grown up and sophisticated modern European and modern Japanese at Kyubi. The best nights are during the week, in my opinion, with less B&T crowds. Soon, a 16 room boutique hotel will be opening to cater to the international overseas clientele who have memberships but don’t actually live in London. For a swanky and glitzy night out, the Arts Club rarely fails to deliver, so bring your out-of-town friends or parents for a night of people-watching and gawping, all for the cost of a small island in the Pacific.

(Lady Gaga outside the Arts Club. Photo courtesy of the Internet)

NHYM

http://www.nottinghillyummymummy.com

@NHyummymummy

Reviews

Review: Bob Bob Ricard Restaurant and Bar (aka. Bob Bob Ricard and The Time Machine)

‘Press For Champagne’

1 Upper James Street, London W1F 9DF

0203 145 1000

http://www.bobbobricard.com

Food: 4 stars

Service: 4.5 stars

Design: 4.5 stars

Value: 3 stars

Overall: 4 stars

A restaurant that boasts a button that lures you to ‘Press for Champagne’ is one that I needed to try for myself. An even better button would be ‘Press for Time,’ as having time these days is as precious as a Cristal bottle. Being in the Generation X, which means we are stressed and time-poor, friendships are often left behind in the cold. As a mother of two young ones, my life has been upstaged by other obligations.

I remember those days fondly when all I had to think of was 1) What I was going to wear for dinner 2) Where I was going for dinner and 3) Who was going to accompany me to said dinner. ‘Once you have children’, a SuperCareerWoman I know once explained to me ‘There are only so many hours in a day to do everything. We have six priorities that we try to fulfil in a set amount of hours. Something has to give eventually.’ The six priorities are: 1. Spending time with the children 2. Having a career 3. Keeping a close and connected relationship with a husband or partner 4. Staying and being Healthy, including working out or zumba-ing 5. A social life of some sort and finally, 6. ‘Me’ Time’ (the latter which really doesn’t count as a priority, as it doesn’t actually exist).

Well, Bob Bob Ricard seemed like a good place to take care of number 5, for a while at least. I invited 10 friends and waited to see who would show up. The answers were as follows: ‘Sorry. In Copenhagen/Dubai/Paris on work trip.’ ‘Sorry I am renovating/moving houses. No time.’ ‘Sorry I had a crying baby/husband all night, exhausted and can’t get away.’ Finally, 4 out of the 10 showed up, which these days, is a relative success (there was a moment there that I thought I would be sitting on my own pressing the button non-stop to drown my depressing lack of friends).

Bob Bob is a ‘spectacular’ restaurant from a Russian and English collaboration. It famously was given ‘no stars’ by AA Gill who described it as ‘Liberace’s bathroom dropped into a Texan diner,’ while winning the Global Design Award and Best New Design at the Wallpaper and TimeOut Restaurant Awards, respectively. TimeOut said it seemed loosely based on the Orient Express meeting an American diner. Marina O’Loughlin and the bald guy from Masterchef loved it. It is a theatrical, mirrored, all-booth restaurant that you have to see with your own eyes to judge clearly.

Our dinner and menu were as controversial and golden as the interiors, really not to be taken too seriously. I had a Seabass ceviche as a starter (which was good but a Size 0 if it had a waist size), while the Lobster Mac & Cheese was a good Size 10, yummy but I should have had it as a side rather than a main. The desserts were the highlight with a wonderful soufflé and a chocolate bomb that was chocolatey and a spectacle in its own right: a golden globe melted open by hot warm chocolate lava (see below).

As an experiment, we pressed the Champagne button to see how long it would take for our wish to be granted. Someone arrived in 18 seconds. Definitely beating the Airline stewardess’ time. Sadly, a tray of Dom Perignon/Moet&Chandon/Veuve Cliquot/Cristal didn’t appear as I had hoped for, but a waitress with a Champagne Menu. From it, we were able to order our £18 glass of Tattingers. All in all, it was an enjoyable, fun, girly, evening out, which reminded me of the days when my time was spent on my girly gossip sessions, drinking endless amounts of cocktails and champagne, without worrying about how many times I would have to wake up in the night, while discussing our latest dates and boy troubles. Its prices are fit for a Tsar, its food as whimsical and playful as Russian dolls and it takes us back in time, to a time where Liberace meets the Orient Express, or even to those carefree days when all I had to think about was myself.

NHYM

http://www.nottinghillyummymummy.com

@NHyummymummy

Photos, Reviews, Social Commentary, Travel

‘I Like Big Boats… And I Cannot Lie’

‘I like Big Boats And I cannot Lie, You Other Sisters Can’t Deny…I’m hooked and I can’t stop staring… But Boats make me so Happy, So Ladies (yeah!), Ladies (yeah!), Do you love your Boats? Hell yeah!’

– adapted from ‘Baby got Back’ by Sir Mix a Lot, 1992

Boats vs. Cars

Boats win hands down. When I hop on a privately owned boat of any size (over 10meters long that is), I get a certain frisson that gets me going, which I know is inexcusable and I should have higher morals, how superficial, but I just can’t help it. I just love boats. I don’t give a tits ass about cars. Cars to me are just dull and predictable; the Porsche Boxter is the poor man’s Porsche that an Associate at a big bank has finally been able to afford to show off his peers from B-school, the Ferrari is the ‘mid-life-crisis’ car that divorced men rush out to buy to snap up a younger version of their ex-wives, and let’s not talk about the branded keychain men love to leave around the restaurant dinner table to show off their bling. I once knew an Italian wannabe playboy who cruised down Fulham Road in his Porsche/Ferrari/Aston Martin to pick up chicks and it apparently worked! When these men (kids) get married and have children, they become the 4×4 crowd, the Range Rover vs. the BMW X5. (And you already know how I feel about private jets: http://www.nottinghillyummymummy.com/2014/05/15/quote-of-the-day-i-promise-you-will-never-have-to-turn-right-on-an-airplane). Just as men have their toys or gadgets, boats are my ‘thing.’ I can stare at them all day. Not only can they take you from A to B like a car or plane, you can party on them, sleep on them, drink cocktails on them while watching the sun set over Formentera with some vodka infused watermelons, cruise from Capri to Ischia overnight on them and do whatever else your imagination takes you.

Sunseeker Superhawk 48

My love of boats started years ago, when as a 20 year old party girl I made friends with an Italian playboy who happened to be friends with a very wealthy 26 year old New Yorker, owner of a Sunseeker Superhawk (this owner of the Sunseeker by the way, drove us to his boat in a Porsche 911). We spent the summers on his boat, the wealthy owner made cooler by the Italian playboy, and I was the token, cool, fun and clever girl that had an open invitation, while they invited different ‘potentials’ each weekend, one which inspired my favourite line in history: ‘You are like a lobster, not a lot of meat, but very expensive.’ Thus started my love affair with boats. There is nothing like the feeling I get when I am on the water, being rocked by mother nature, inducing a release of endorphins that makes me so deliriously happy, surrounded by water and away from all our ‘problems’ for the day, or for a week. It reminds me that we are just small fish in a huge ocean. Mix that with a Mojito cocktail or Glass of Domaine Ott Rose, and a Cafe Del Mar CD, and there is not much more that makes me so happy.

The Size of a Boat Matters: Bigger is not always Better

There is a good size to a boat, like Goldilocks’ bed, not too big, not too small. My ideal is between 10m and 40m, but it also depends on the boat. Under 10m is acceptable for a lake boat or for a Riva, Aquarama or a Ligurian day boat. Over 50m and they become like cruise-liners, which is not my thing, I’ll leave the cruises to the over 60s and to those Orange EasyCruisers. I want to be able to feel the water rocking the boat underneath me, and not feel like a floating hotel. A good boat should have plenty of space for sunbathing, drinking and eating. Then there are day boats and overnight boats to choose from. My favourite day boat is the Sunseeker Superhawk 48, as I have already mentioned before. Overnight boats need to be a certain length, so that I don’t turn green and start wretching – really not an attractive look – and to have enough space for a proper cabin and proper toilets that don’t start smelling of piss after 3 days at sea.

There is the real urban tale of the Legal Head of a major American Private Equity Firm who proudly rents a 33m sailing boat in the Caribbean for him and his family. He is feeling rather pleased with himself that he has one of the biggest boats in the bay and his teenage sons are well impressed. Until, that is, the Billionaire founder of his Private Equity Firm accosts him with his personal 62m super yacht, with helicopter and sailboat on the main deck, and his teenagers desert him in a flash for the jet skis on the super yacht.

Invictus and Lady Joy

Sailboats vs. Superyachts

The question of Sailboat vs. Motor yachts is rather self explanatory. Sailboats are unquestionably the more beautiful and classy boat, while the Superyachts are the cool boats to have, to really show off in the land of the SuperRich. Some would say a penis extension. But whatever. They are just so cool. The FT recently covered boats as the ultimate SuperRich playthings. First comes the house, then comes the car, then the plane and finally the Superyacht. So, are you cool or are you classy?

Boyfriends and Boats

All of my serious boyfriends understood very quickly that I loved boats and used this to their advantage. It is my weak spot! Everyone has one, don’t they? My first serious boyfriend took me on a sailing trip from St. Martin to St. Barth’s on our third date, good effort I thought, but after three days I couldn’t wait to check-into a hotel. My second serious boyfriend took me on a friend’s Sunseeker Superhawk every summer to go from Ibiza to Formentera for the day, and managed to get me on an America’s Cup Winner Oyster during Les Voiles de St. Tropez. Not Bad. My third serious boyfriend decided to propose to me on a boat, unfortunately he didn’t receive the memo, it wasn’t on a Sunseeker or an Oyster Sailboat as I was hoping for, but a small, tin boat on a freezing cold, rainy lake. Needless to say, I still said ‘yes’. So, after all, it’s not the size of the boat that really matters.

A ‘pizza’ boat.

NHYM

http://www.nottinghillyummymummy.com

Twitter: @NHyummymummy

In the Press, Reviews

Review of Tate Modern’s Matisse Cut-Outs: The Cut-Outs vs Butt-Outs

Tate Modern until Sept 7th

http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/henri-matisse-cut-outs

*****5 Stars

Cut-Outs vs. Butt-outs: Matisse vs. Kimye

Two ‘once-in-lifetime’ events have recently just occurred: April 2014 saw Matisse’s Cutouts opening at the Tate Modern, a historical and unmissable event bringing together all of Matisse’s most important cutout works, and May 2014 saw the most ridiculously over the top wedding of all time, golden wedding toilet and all; Kim Kardashian’s wedding to Kanye West. Kimye’s wedding kiss became the most ‘liked’ picture on Instagram. But the similarities between the two events end at voluptuous, naked women with large bosoms and bottoms.

The 21st century is laden with reality stars taking over the world and covered on every magazine, newspaper and social media cover. I despair to think that my children are growing up in a world with role models such as Kimye. Yes, she may be (artificially) beautiful and I am sure she is very ‘nice’, (her and her artistically enhanced derriere), but what is she really teaching our children? That constant bitching, plastic surgery, a world of materialism and superficialism, multiple weddings, and excessively spending ridiculous amounts on the aforementioned multiple weddings is an entirely normal proposition? Luckily, the Matisse exhibit at Tate Modern keeps my hopes up that we still have role models everywhere for our children, if we just open our eyes beyond the Kimye Press.

(The Mermaid and the Parakeet)

Going to this Matisse exhibit, (Matisse happens to be one of my favourite artists), was truly an unmissable event for me. The juxtaposition of Kimye’s vacuous and superficial reality life splashed all over the tabloids next to Matisse’s Cutouts and his life as an artist in the Daily Mail is unreal. How far we have come in 60 years from his death in 1954 to 2014. I will try not to go on like many Art Critics, writing verbose, possibly pretentious articles, that frighten most normal people with their diarrhea of adjectives, to describe what I saw (you can read all these articles online at the Telegraph, Guardian, and Times) but I hope to give you a ‘simple’ take on his world, his art, and his ‘genius’ (unlike the ‘genius’ called by Kim’s mother describing Jaden Smith in his white Batman suit).

(Large Decoration and Masks)

Matisse didn’t enter the art world because of pushy parents. His father wanted him to study law, but Matisse was introduced to art by his mother after a bout of appendicitis. He was ‘hooked,’ as one would say, and would become one of the most influential modern artists, next to Picasso. Matisse started his Cutouts late in his life as an artist, in his 70s, after a close encounter with death and major surgery, in what he calls his ‘seconde vie’. Despite his ill health, for Matisse this was his second chance at life, which gave him the freedom, ‘liberte,’ to truly express himself. Initially, the critics called his work ‘child-like,’ but I think he was trying to teach us to look at the world as if we were looking at it for the first time, like a child, to see beauty in the simple things. He used simple methods of paper, cutting and painting to cut out flowers, fruit, and seaweed. Simple, beautiful, objects we often overlook every day because of the busyness of our lives. He was then able to use the inspiration of a lifetime and translate it into artworks to create some of the most alive, dynamic and beautiful pieces of Modern Art.

(The Sheath)

He is known as the best colourist in the 20th Century and his vibrant colours of Blues, Yellows, Green, Yellow and Purple are reminiscent of a child’s painting palette. He manages to create movement through his cut paper and uses his paper cutouts, pasted on top of background paper, to create texture and contrasts of colours. Other themes of his Cutouts are Dancing, Jazz, Ballet, and the Underwater World of Tahiti, all subjects close to his heart and mine. Years before, Matisse had made a trip to Tahiti when he felt a lack of inspiration and there he spent days snorkelling and basking in the sun, and later used fruits, seaweed and palms from that trip to create ‘Oceania the Sea’, and ‘Oceania the Sky’. His ‘seaweed’ and ‘corals’ that he uses over and over in his cutouts, which you can see in ‘The Sheath,’ and ‘Decoration and Mask,’ show us where he was most at peace and happy; underwater surrounded by bright, vibrant light and colours not visible in the overwater world. When he was bed and wheelchair ridden, he was able to re-create scenes which he was now no longer able to enjoy, like the underwater sea, and also create a garden in his studio by pinning cutouts onto his walls.

(Icarus)

What Matisse achieved in doing, despite his infirmity, his age, and his critics, was to create a new form of art which was alive, vibrant, and in his mind, full of clarity. While he was unable to move freely, he was still able to bring gardens and the seashore right to his bedroom. He was able to make dancers dance for him, to tell tales of Icarus and 1001 nights through his art and to recreate himself as an artist. For him, this was a rebirth, a second chance to see life differently and wanting to live it fully against all odds. This is what he can teach and inspire my children. Unlike a Kardashian, whose lustre will fade as her wrinkles multiply, her bum sags with age, and her money won’t save her from being replaced by the next prettier, younger thing.

(Family sitting below the Blue Nude on the Right, cutting out and reproducing Matisse’s works of art).

Five Matisse Cutouts you should know about (or at least appear to know about at a dinner party):

1. Blue Nudes Series: There are four of them and are his most popular and recognisable pieces aside from the Dancers painting.

2. Icarus

3. The Snail: Matisse’s slight exploration into abstract art, until he realised he should leave it to Picasso.

4. The Parakeet and The Mermaid

5. Large Decoration and Mask

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Category Archives: Reviews

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The Colony Grill Room

Review: Wormwood Restaurant

London Film Festival 2014: Foxcatcher & The New Girlfriend

VIP Collector’s Preview Day Frieze Art Fair 2014 & PAD 2014

Top 10 Art Events in London, October 2014

Review: Private Member’s Club, The Arts Club

Review: Bob Bob Ricard Restaurant and Bar (aka. Bob Bob Ricard and The Time Machine)

Review of Tate Modern’s Matisse Cut-Outs: The Cut-Outs vs Butt-Outs