New Art Centre

The grounds at Roche Court are magnificent. We had such a wonderful afternoon wandering about and looking at the sculptures which are all for sale.

 

Peter Randall-Page's Mother Tongue  was right by the entrance

followed by Pythagoras Stone also by Peter Randall-Page

Another Time XII, by Antony Gormley

Bulb  by Michael Craig-Martin

manicured lawns with sculptures dotted about

In front of the walled garden

Rockswarm by Bill Woodrow

The Outsider/The Insider by Simon Periton

Acrobats by Barry Flanagan and Union Horse with Two Discs by Christopher Le Brun

I had to really zoom in for those, you could barely seee them in the distance 

the tiniest pond, but oh so cute!

 

Far in the distance is another Antony Gormley but you can not see it in the photograph as it is so far away

 

Imagine You Are Driving A Blue Honda, by Julian Opie

Imagine You Are Driving A Yellow Car, by Julian Opie

both made with aluminium and paint

 

Ken had fun here

Someone and Someone, by Eva Rothchild

The path with lavender on either side is a real delight

and some colour

 

Back to Earth, by Fernando Casasempere, made out of stoneware and porcelain, amazing texture

 

and a closer look

 

Hammer, by Michael Craig-Martin.

Sluts of the World Unite!

There were Slutwalk marches in Cardiff, Newcastle, Edinburgh and Glasgow on Saturday. The first march was organised in Toronto on the 3rd of April, following a policeman's talk to Toronto women  on how to avoid sexual violence. His advice was: 'women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimised'.





Slut walk in London


In their manifesto the Toronto organisers stated: 'we are tired of being oppressed by our sexuality and feeling unsafe as a result. Being in charge of our sexual lives should not mean that we are opening ourselves to an expectation of violence, regardless if we participate in sex for pleasure or work. No one should equate enjoying sex with attracting sexual assault'.

Slutwalk in Melbourne

The Toronto march sparked a wave of marches across Canada and the U.S.A., and now following this weekend's marches in the U.K., more are planned throughout the world.

Slutwalk in Glasgow


Sexual violence and rape must be the only crimes where the blame is put on the victim. Women who are sexually assaulted are told that 'it was their fault',  'they were asking for it',  'they were wearing the wrong clothes'.  Thus, the myth about rape is perpetuated: rape is about power and control, not about sexual desire or women's clothing.

Women are defined by their sexuality and unfortunately the dichotomy of Madonna/whore still exists. The consumption of pornography is out of control with ever younger boys having access to it.

Furthermore, the government estimates that 95% of all rapes are never reported. Of the rapes that were reported in 2007-2008, only 6.5% resulted in a conviction.






Slutwalk Chicago


There is quite a lot of controversy over the adoption of the term 'slut' . I am not sure how I feel about it, despite the title of this post, which I could not resist,  but I think that the main thing is that women and men are taking to the streets and saying 'no means no' and asking for an end to sexual violence. The message is clear - rapists, not victims are at fault.





Slutwalk in Toronto

Roche Court

After visiting the Mead Gallery and seeing the Hubert Dalwood exhibition, I did some research on the sculptor and came upon a picture of Roche Court. I instantly fell in love with the new gallery extension built by Stephen Marshall in 1998. I just had to see it and be in it  and this is part of the reason why we went to Salisbury last week.

Roche Court is a commercial gallery with works of art exhibited in the new extension, the artists' house and the extensive grounds.

This is the main house which was built in 1804 and the frontage of the whole complex.

The side of the main house, leading on to the grounds.

This is the back of the house, the new extension and the orangery, all linked together along an existing garden wall

and a slightly closer look.

a close look at the new extension and from this angle you can see the roof

from this angle however,  the roof  looks like it is floating. The heavy oak doors hide the columns that hold the building up.

and another photograph, just because I can't get enough of it....

a view of the gallery from the orangery

a view of the garden from inside the modern extension

and another

looking out of the orangery at the Barbara Hepworth sculpture

Now we walk back, past the front of the house and on to the side - this is one of the many plaques you can see on the garden wall

on to the artists' house (built in 2001) which at present is used to display art in a domestic setting. The photograph is not doing this extension justice - it was stunning inside, with a strong sense of light and air. The heavy oak panels blend in well and link this building with the extension at the front. The few sculptures that were displayed gave the whole a modern, tranquil feel.

Stephen Marshall architects also built the Cube in 2008 which is in a courtyard and which we were not allowed to visit. We had a look through the gate that leads to the courtyard however, and the Cube is literally a glass cube which protrudes from the main building: there was more art on display here and I can imagine that it must be wonderful to be inside a glass box like that looking out.

The Indignant

Following the example of their brothers and sisters in  Spain, the people of Athens have been protesting against austerity measures and demanding that politicians be more in tune with their citizens' needs. Thousands have been protesting since May 25th in front of Parliament in Syntagma Square. This is an unprecedentent outburst of civil discontent and the numbers have reached 100,000.

This is the 12th day of the protests. There were protests in Thessaloniki and Patra and dozens of other cities throughout the country.

What is amazing is how little publicity this mass movement has been getting in the international press. Is it because it is a non-violent movement, and does this go to show how selective the media is in choosing the images it provides us with?

For too long Greece's political system has not changed because there wasn't anything powerful enough to bring about that change. Maybe the time has come....



Mompesson House

Mompesson House, which is situated in Cathedral Close, was built for local MP Charles Mompesson in 1701

it has a magnificent collection of English 18th century drinking glasses. This passageway leads to the gorgeous walled garden at the back.

It is a small town garden but very lush and green

with lots of colour this time of year

we went to the tea room and had some lunch

a last look at the back of the house before going in again.

This lady comes here every day in her lunch hour to savour the garden and the tranquility. No wonder...

Salisbury

We had a great time in Salisbury

we walked around

and admired the Mediaeval architecture.

At the other end of this archway is the Cathedral

which is stunning. It has the highest spire in the whole of Britain and maybe Europe

we walked around the cloisters

and admired the stonework

and then went inside, and here is Antony Gormley's Flare II,  suspended from the ceiling

a walk around the west side

and then the marvellous fountain in the centre.

As always with cathedrals, the houses around them are fantastic and this is no exception

The houses around here are so beautiful, I had to take photographs of each one.

Old, weathered brickwork

this must be one of the healthiest wisterias I have ever seen

and isn't this gate beautiful?

A cottage garden in the middle of the city

the military museum

roses in profusion

Edward Heath's house.

We stayed at the White Hart hotel

which has the most wonderful garden

We sat here in the evenings

before going out to eat

when it got dark the garden was magical - the creeper covers this wall and through the foliage you can see the lighted windows.