Walker Art Gallery Liverpool

Although i'm currently based in Birmingham, i am actually from somewhere quite near to Liverpool with a large portion of my family being Liverpudlians, so it's somewhere i have visited quite a few times. I often overlook it as a place to visit to wander around exhibitions (my visits generally have one purpose-shopping!), however, my recent visit has reminded me just how much there is to see in this city. 

As well as visiting the Tate (see previous post), i also visited The Walker Art Gallery, which is just across the road from Liverpool Lime Street Station. As well as the gallery's permanent 20th century and contemporary collection, i also saw the New Works At The Walker exhibition, which brings together new pieces that the Walker has acquired over recent years.

A very varied collection of works were exhibited; including costume, paintings and video... An exhibition that would most definitely be classed as contemporary, including a very memorable piece by Marcus Coates, which i found quite strange but as it was so different it stuck with me. Journey To The Lower World (2004) is a video installation which shows Coates dressed in a deer skin performing a ritual to interact with the spirit world to answer a question put to him by residents of a block of flats awaiting demolition; "do we have a protector for this site? What is it?" As he 'interacts' with the spirit world he begins making animalistic noises and acting as though he may be possessed by a spirit... A very bizarre piece of work but it does have impact!

'Super Star F****r Andy Warhol Text Painting', Peter Davies, 2002-20th Century & Contemporary Collection

    

'A Glass Of Water', Michael Craig-Martin, 1984-20th Century & Contemporary Collection

'Belonging' Patrick Murphy

This installation was outside of the Walker Art Gallery and is a response to the suggestion that pigeons are a nuisance and are 'uninvited guests' but the bright colours of  the birds that are 'decorating' the gallery are difficult to avoid!

Glam! The Performance of Style

The Liverpool Tate has showcased an exhibition focusing on the explosion of 'pop style' that came about in the seventies. It has been on for a few months and closes today but i visited the exhibition last week and found it very interesting to see the development of the style. 

The exhibition was all about glamour, exaggeration, androgyny and a dose of the erotic, with the style being represented through art, film, photography and sculpture. Everything was about being 'over-the-top' and creating a great impact, i found that a lot of the exhibition was about the crossover of males and females, which was portrayed through males transforming themselves with the use of make-up.

I enjoyed the exhibition and it was interesting to learn about fashion and beauty trends from that era. 

I also visited another exhibition, similar in theme to this one; The Art Of Pop Video at FACT (Foundation For Art & Creative Technology), which is a media arts centre also in Liverpool.

The exhibition was very simple in concept; several rooms with televisions mounted on walls playing music videos, each fitting into a theme showing the development of the pop video. Significant music videos from past years were included as well as the politically influenced and the amateur which were boosted by the introduction of YouTube. A very simple concept that is quite effective, this exhibition runs until May 26th and is free entry; it was nice to see pop videos that are regarded highly all in one place.

The Art Of Pop Exhibition Trailer

Magnetic Lash

A few weeks ago i bought the Magnetic Lash Extension Mascara, i've used it a few times and have found that it really does make a difference. I don't have particularly long eye lashes so generally either extend them as much as i can with mascara or occasionally false eyelashes. As i'm not that used to applying false lashes however, it usually takes a few tries and a lot of glue for me to put them on properly and often find that my eyes feel heavy when wearing them. That is why i love this product, it's so easy to use as it is just like applying mascara and gives a good effect that still looks quite natural, i will admit it doesn't give the same effect as false eyelashes but it comes quite close.

BEFORE APPLYING:

The Magnetic Lash extension 'system' works by using the 'Magnetic' Mascara first to coat the eyelashes. The Lash Builder is then applied, the wand is similar to that of a mascara but is covered in small fibres that stick to the lashes to make them look fuller and extend them. This does look a bit weird when putting it on as your eyelashes look fluffy but after a final coat of the mascara they are smoothed.

AFTER APPLYING:

You can really see the difference in the above image that the product has made. It is possible to add extra length by repeating the process again but this can make the lashes look a bit clumpy.

I will definitely be buying this again once it runs out, it is a little expensive at £24.99, but i have had several applications of it now and still have plenty left. The fact that i will get several uses out of it made paying a little extra worth it as false lashes that can't be reused more than a couple of times cost around £4-£6.

I really recommend this product especially for people who want to achieve a false lash effect but struggle with applying them.

Vanilla Cupcakes | Hummingbird Bakery Recipe

RECIPE (TAKEN FROM THE HUMMINGBIRD BAKERY COOKBOOK) 12 Cupcakes:

120g plain flour

140g caster sugar

1 and a half teaspoons baking powder 

A pinch of salt 

40g butter

120ml whole milk 

1 egg

A quarter of a teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees (325 degrees Fahrenheit) Gas 3

Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and butter into a bowl and mix until a sandy consistency is achieved as below.   An electric mixer or handheld whisk are mentioned in the original recipe however i managed fine with just a spoon.

Add half of the milk to sandy mixture and mix until just combined. Mix the remaining half of the milk with the egg and vanilla extract in a separate bowl and add to the mixture, combining until smooth but not over-mixed.

Spoon into cake cases until two thirds full and bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 mins until golden brown.

Once baked leave in the tin to cool slightly before moving to a wire rack to cool completely before icing.

FROSTING RECIPE (HUMMINGBIRD BAKERY) 12 Cupcakes:

250g sifted icing sugar 

80g butter 

1 tablespoon of milk 

Food colouring paste

Beat the icing sugar and butter together using an electric whisk, i usually start combining the two together using a spoon first as it makes less mess than the whisk. Once combined add the milk and food colouring, continue to combine using the electric whisk for about 5 mins until light and fluffy. Ice the cupcakes when fully cooled.

Dissertation Writing | ASOS |

Apologies for the lack of posts in the last month, I've been very busy writing my dissertation. Thankfully the stress from writing it is now over and it is printed and bound ready to hand in. My dissertation looked at how a lot of high street retailers have been disappearing recently and operating their businesses online only, which means that the online retailing market is becoming more and more saturated and retailers have to offer their customers a variety of products and services that their competitors are not. I have been looking at ASOS’ business model in the most detail and have found that they do actually offer a lot of services and their product range is quite vast which is contributing to their success. In February of this year ASOS announced that their year on year global sales had increased 37% (UK sales 28% and international 45%) which shows that they are still attracting new customers even after 13 years of retailing. ASOS continue to offer their 6 million active customers across the world many reasons to shop with them including Marketplace, Fashion Finder and the newly added Fit Visualiser and gift list but with their international sales overtaking the growth of UK sales, will they introduce new services to encourage new UK customers? After looking at ASOS in depth, it is clear that a contributing factor to their success is the fact that they do offer a variety of services that make shopping with them so simple, they have an edge over competitors and are using technological advances to improve upon their already well established business.

Valentino | Master Of Couture | Somerset House

Eleganza Italiana, Valentino. Photograph by Cathleen Naundorf.

Portrait of a Lady, Valentino. Photograph by Cathleen Naundorf

A beautiful exhibition celebrating the work of Valentino, showcasing over 130 haute couture designs. 

The exhibition begins with photographs and correspondence from the Valentino archives from names such as Anna Wintour as well as Prince Charles, before moving onto a catwalk style exhibition of the amazing designs by the 'Master of Couture' and then on to the final part to the exhibition which showcases the intricate techniques that are used to produce these works of art.

If you want to visit this stunning exhibition, there's not long left as it closes on the 3rd March. This is another exhibition that is well worth a visit and being able to see so much of Valentino's work was really amazing, however if you are unable to get to Somerset House there is a virtual museum where you can discover even more about the iconic Valentino- Visit the Valentino Garavani Virtual Museum here.

Lichtenstein: A Retrospective | Tate Modern |

The Lichtenstein: A Retrospective exhibition opened at the Tate Modern on the 21st February 2013 and runs until 27th May 2013, bringing together 125 paintings and sculptures from the influential artist, Roy Lichtenstein, who is well known for his comic strip style as well as his use of Ben-Day dots.

It was interesting to see his work up close as it isn't really possible to see the amount of precision that goes into it on images found on the internet. I also hadn't realised the scale on which he worked, most of his work was produced on huge canvases, giving them a greater impact. 

I really enjoyed this exhibition and highly recommend it, i would maybe visit in a few weeks time however and definitely not for the first few weekends, i visited on the day it opened and i think there were a few too many people.