FTN-blog

David Saunders was born 1936 in Essex. In between leaving his educational studies and being drafted for military duty, he dabbled briefly within the advertising industry. While in this transitional phase, he made the most of his evenings by attending life classes taught by Vivian Pitchforth at St. Martin’s School of Art, located on the bustling Charing Cross Road in London. The area was abuzz with cutting-edge cultural endeavors.

Serving on Salisbury plain, he was given the opportunity to pursue his fervor for painting during moments of respite from active service. The nearby landscape of white hills scattered with solitary clusters of forests served as a muse for many of Paul Nash’s paintings. This particular setting may have also had an impact on Saunders’ early work.

After being discharged from the military, Saunders continued his education in painting under the guidance of Frederick Gore at Saint Martin’s School of Art. He then went on to complete his Master’s degree at the esteemed Royal Academy Schools in London from 1959 to 1962.

Saunders’ first public showing was as part of the Young Contemporaries exhibition in London in 1959. He displayed a painting of an imaginary landscape that was inspired by his initial trip to Italy that same year. The following year, he participated in an eclectic exhibition titled “Tomorrow’s Artists” at the Grabowski Gallery in London.

In 1965, Saunders had his first solo exhibition at the Artists’ International Gallery in London.

His artwork was increasingly becoming the center of attention, and in 1967, he was showcased in the ‘A Survey of Abstract Painting’ exhibition at the Camden Arts Centre. This exhibition included works by several other renowned artists, including Peter Joseph. From this point on, a close and enduring friendship developed between Joseph and Saunders, characterized by an intense and expansive dialogue, expressed both visually and verbally.

It was from this particular showing that the Arts Council procured the first of many of Saunders’ paintings that would eventually become part of public collections. In that same year, his artwork was also featured in the Edinburgh Festival exhibition titled ‘Hundred Best Paintings’ at the Richard Demarco Gallery.

In 1965, Saunders was appointed to a teaching position at Newport College of Art. It was there that he encountered Jeffrey Steele, who was six years his senior and also a painter. At a public exhibition in Cardiff in 1968, the two artists were jointly awarded the Arts Council Purchase Prize. This pivotal moment marked the beginning of a lengthy collaboration between the two, with the first visible outcome being the establishment of the Systems Group one year later. The British artists who joined this group were influenced by the principles of international Constructivism, but with a distinct political undercurrent. When Steele assumed the role of Head of Fine Art at Portsmouth Polytechnic, he invited Saunders to join as a part-time lecturer. This was where Saunders first connected with members of the English experimental composers’ school, including Michael Parsons who remains a close friend and collaborator.

The ‘Systems’ group had a relatively brief existence, culminating in 1972 with their exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery in London. It was here that Saunders unveiled a large installation piece. Many of the artists associated with the group also exhibited at the Lucy Milton Gallery in London.

In 1970, Saunders was an artist in residence at The Gardner Centre for the Arts at the University of Sussex. By 1972, he was invited to be a guest artist at the Stedelijk Museum studios in Amsterdam. This opportunity allowed him to deeply immerse himself in the work and environment of renowned painter Piet Mondrian.

From 1970 to 1980, Saunders served as a visiting lecturer at the Slade School of Fine Art at the University of London, while also teaching painting and photography at Liverpool Polytechnic Art School. In 1988, at the age of 52, he made the decision to step away from formal teaching.

During the years 1980-1990, Saunders delved deeply into the intricacies of color in painting, culminating in the 1986 exhibit ‘Colour Presentations’ in collaboration with painter Richard Bell, sponsored by the Arts Council. The catalog’s introduction features an essay by philosopher Bernard Harrison.

After leaving formal instruction, the artist relocated to London, setting up a studio in the East End at the Bow Arts Trust. It was there that his work ventured into a – seemingly – revolutionary direction, possibly influenced by significant events in his personal life. Whatever prompted this shift, it was a period of intense and fruitful productivity.

In 2006, Saunders permanently relocated to the French Pyrenees, where the earthly and ethereal conditions harmonize with his creative process.

www.ftn-books.com has a nice silkscreen /signed/dated print by Saunders now available.

Francisco Soto Mesa was born in Madrid and pursued art studies at what was formerly known as the Escuela Superior de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, now the Facultad de Bellas Artes de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, where he obtained his degree.

In 1978, he inaugurated the Escuela de Artes Plásticas “El Estudio” and the “Sala Previa,” where he taught and organized exhibitions, mainly featuring emerging artists. In October 2001, he opened the adjacent space to the Art School, which was named “Tercer Espacio” and served as a venue for non-commercial exhibitions of renowned artists, as well as other events and activities related to the world of art and culture. It later became known as “Galería Tercer Espacio” and was in operation from early 2006 to the end of 2011. From that point on, the same activities focused on creative, artistic, and personal development continued to be organized in these spaces until its relocation to San Agustín street, in the same neighborhood, where all teaching and artistic activities continue to be led by Elisa Soto with her guidance and expertise.

the silkscreen below is now available at www.ftn-books.com

No portrait of the artist this time , but a great silkscreen by Jaak Vuylsteke who used the square as a grid for practically all his art.

Jaak Vuylsteke …….The focus of my work revolves around the examination of the square. This investigation delves into the square from multiple perspectives, with an emphasis on concentrations that involve the 90 ° angle and the parallel sides. Through various transformations, intricate relationships are formed. The resulting pieces are meticulously constructed using geometric principles, resulting in visually striking drawings, paintings, and sculptures.

The above silkscreen print nis now available at www.ftn-books.com

Ian Hamilton Finlay (1925–2006), a multifaceted philosopher, sculptor, and poet, revitalized the classical tradition through a rich body of work that encompasses an array of creative forms, celebrating the enduring power of language. His diverse output includes prints, poems, books, inscriptions, neons, sculptures, permanent installations, and landscape design. As a pure conceptual artist, Finlay was attuned to the formalistic concerns of literary and artistic modernism, such as color, shape, scale, texture, and composition. For nearly four decades, he built his pieces using philosophical texts, myths, characters, and imagery from the past, skillfully juxtaposing them to create enigmatic and thought-provoking combinations. Finlay’s adept use of syntax and narrative configuration masterfully blended refined distinctions with a poetic philosophy. His talent lay in breaking down complex ideas into concise words and phrases, often laced with his characteristic wit and wry humor.

In 1961, Finlay co-founded the Wild Hawthorn Press with Jessie McGuffie and quickly gained international recognition as Britain’s leading concrete poet. His publications continue to be instrumental in disseminating his visual art. As a sculptor, he collaborated with skilled artisans in a wide range of materials, bringing his ideas to life through stone carvings, constructed objects, and neon lighting. In the mid-1960s, Finlay resided and worked in Stonypath, situated in the southwest of Edinburgh. Here, he transformed the surrounding rural acres into a one-of-a-kind garden and lifelong endeavor: Little Sparta. Ian Hamilton Finlay passed away on March 27, 2006, at the age of 80.

www.ftn-books.com has several Hamilton Finlay publications now available.

At times, one must stand literally face to face with a piece by Klein Hofmeijer to fully comprehend the precise structure and cohesion of its various components. He consistently manages to absorb external artistic influences (such as art, literature, film, and music) and weave them together into an unmistakable style.

From March 7th to June 1st, Museum van Bommel van Dam will extensively explore the various themes and motifs present in Hans Klein Hofmeijer’s work. Along with a thematic focus on series such as “Lichtvangers,” “de Achterkant van de Schilder,” and “Inktmannen,” there will also be significant attention given to his complex word images, inventive use of materials, and thought-provoking statements about his artistry.

www.ftn-books.com has the OVER MOOI publication from 2004 now available.

Olga Zimmelová (1945) entered the world in Majdalena in southern Bohemia. In 1968, she took the leap to Switzerland, where she settled and pursued an education in the arts. During this time, conceptual art held a prominent position on the world stage, and Zimmelová – much like her fellow Czech artists who departed the country during that era – was drawn to this innovative movement. Her art took on a natural conceptual trajectory, characterized by her inherent inclination towards openness. She does not hold onto anything, be it in life or in art. The exhibition, An Unencumbered Look at the Church of St. Lawrence, utilizes painting, objects, and projections to showcase Zimmelová’s unfettered reflection on her birthplace and childhood, as well as other significant locations in her life.

www.ftn-books.com has the PANDATARIA book now available.

In the year 1981, Graham achieved his inaugural masterpiece, A1: The Great North Road. This groundbreaking series of color photographs, captured along A1, Great Britain’s lengthiest numbered road, shook the foundations of traditional British photography dominated by black-and-white social documentary. Graham’s use of color film in the early 1980s pioneered a new wave in the genre, inspiring a generation of artists including Martin Parr, Richard Billingham, Simon Norfolk, and Nick Waplington to embrace color.

In 2011, The Museum of Modern Art in New York acquired the complete set of prints from The Great North Road, the very set Graham utilized to create his first book in 1983. Over the course of the past thirty years, Graham has explored different corners of the world, crafting twelve distinct collections of work. His talent has been celebrated in more than eighty solo exhibitions worldwide.

www.ftn-books.com has the THE END OF AN AGE invitation now available featuring Untitled no. 22

Mohamed Aksouh is an Algerian Postwar & Contemporary artist who was born in 1934.Numerous key galleries and museums such as Galerie Claude Lemand have featured Mohamed Aksouh’s work in the past.

Mohamed Aksouh is an Algerian Postwar & Contemporary artist who was born in 1934.Numerous key galleries and museums such as Galerie Claude Lemand have featured Mohamed Aksouh’s work in the past.

Michel Humair is a painter of the New School of Paris, born in the Swiss Jura in 1926, settled in France in 1947 and died in 2019. He described his approach as “Impressionism of lyrical abstraction”. Lydia Harambourg wrote in La Gazette de l’Hôtel Drouot: “Humair belongs to the second generation of an abstraction that privileges gesture and movement underlying a fervent emotion (…). This one passes by the colors and the contrasts, by the forms and by a sensual matter of which he exploits the expressive richnesses to the service of what he wants to translate: the truth of his landscape”.

These 3 artist were presented in 1999 in the SIGNATURE PARIS 4 exhibition at BORZO.

the catalog is now available at www.ftn-books.com

Born in 1952 in the outskirts of Allgäu, Germany, Gunther For̈g embarked upon his career in the early 1970s, as he began to study at the renowned Academy of Fine Art Munich. Throughout his education, For̈g honed a distinct pattern, grounded solely in tones of grey and black. These initial investigations into shades of gray, also known as “Gitter” paintings, marked the genesis of a life-long dedication to conceptualism. As he eloquently declared, “Grey, a void in itself: neither pure white, nor deep black. Hovering in between. Unconcerned with form. Embracing liberty.” While the artist eventually incorporated splashes of color into his monochromatic creations, his use of grey served as a neutral foundation from which he manifested his magnum opus.

In the roaring 1980s, For̈g ventured into photography, capturing gorgeous images of architecturally significant structures, both culturally and politically, ranging from Bauhaus edifices in Tel Aviv to Fascist constructions in Italy. This diversification of medium and form influenced For̈g to forsake painting altogether, as he focused solely on photography for a period of time, as a counterpoint to traditional painting practices. In retrospect, he expressed that photography allowed him to “capture reality more intimately,” concluding that “what one portrays is not necessarily the absolute reality.” During the span of the 80s and 90s, Förg’s photographic creations garnered critical acclaim and were showcased at esteemed art institutions worldwide, such as the Kunsthalle Bern in Switzerland and The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, NY. It was during this period that Förg embarked on an exploration of the exhibition space itself, painting over gallery walls and juxtaposing photographs against his own paintings.

Förg ventured into a new phase of experimentation in the late 80s, delving once again into the realm of painting and delving into novel materials such as wood, copper, bronze, and lead. His celebrated lead series, in which acrylic paint is applied onto sheets of lead and supported by wooden frames, blurs the boundaries between painting and sculpture, marking an evolution towards object-making. Förg’s bronze sculptural practice, also initiated in the 80s, possesses a painterly quality with indentations and marks that evoke brushstrokes, capturing a fleeting moment in time.

In his fervent pursuit of artistic experimentation, Förg turned to producing fragmented sculptures of body parts in the early 90s, describing this foray into figuration as inevitable. These new works embrace the inherent materiality of their creation; the weathered, heavy, and scratched surfaces of metal, lead, and wood hint at a duality of form and expression, geometry and spontaneity.

At the turn of the 21st century, Förg’s artistry evolutionarily diverged from the strict principles of Minimalism. Taking a fresh direction, he infused his works with a vibrant color palette and a more emotive touch, manifesting in a series of grid-like imprints and intersecting hues. Known as ‘Gitterbilder’ (grid paintings), these pieces exhibit the same uninhibited freedom and sensuality that have drawn critical comparisons to the works of Cy Twombly.

Other creations from this period feature expansive canvases of negative space, punctured by bursts of bold brushstrokes and expressive marks. Förg’s ultimate return to emotive painting signifies a sense of completion, a full-circle return to painting as a harmonious fusion of experimentation and artistic tradition. In the words of the artist himself, “I believe painting endures as a resilient practice; throughout its history, its essence remains relatively unchanged and it continues to thrive in the present. It is a timeless art form.”

www.ftnart.com has some great original Forg art available and www.ftn-books.com has many of the iconic Forg book titles available.

Panagiotis Vassilakis, born in Athens and known as Takis (1925-2019), spent a lifetime pushing the boundaries of art, venturing into territories once reserved for trailblazing physicists. Recognized as a prominent figure of the kinetic art movement in the 1960s, his creations ranged from sculptures and paintings to performances and sound pieces, all incorporating intangible energies as a fourth dimension – with a particular focus on magnetism, his enduring fascination.

Amidst his multitude of creations utilizing electromechanical contraptions, oftentimes procured from military surplus outlets, stands the “Signals” series – antenna-like sculptures crowned with metallic structures or luminous bulbs that sway with the slightest vibrations. Takis also crafted reliefs, paintings, and self-propelling sculptures that utilize magnets to animate metallic objects dangling near their surfaces. In another series, labeled “Musicals”, automated instruments harness electromagnets and electric guitar pickups to produce resonant sounds that the artist deemed as “raw music”.

Takis, an autodidact and self-proclaimed “instinctive scholar”, gained recognition that led to an invitation to serve as a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1968. He delved into the realm of technological discoveries, ancient philosophy, and Zen Buddhism, weaving together unique and often mystical forms embodying time, space, and energy.

An active presence in Paris, London, New York, and his homeland of Greece, Takis crossed paths with renowned figures such as the Beat poets, The Beatles, and Marcel Duchamp, who famously dubbed him as “the ploughman of magnetic fields and signalman on soft railroads.” Throughout his career, Takis infused his research with a social undertone, viewing his creations as forces for peace and healing. In 1960, he initiated his own version of the Cold War space race, suspending poet Sinclair Beiles mid-air using magnets as part of a public event where the poet recited Takis’ anti-war “Magnetic Manifesto”, preceding Yuri Gagarin’s groundbreaking flight a year later. Additionally, in 1969, he co-founded the Art Workers Coalition in New York, advocating for artists’ rights and diversity in museums. Until his passing, the artist helmed the Takis K.E.T.E., founded in 1986, a research center for the arts and sciences in Athens that furthered his studies and their practical applications in improving the quality and longevity of life. Furthermore, he also delved into Solar Yoga, a unique form of yoga he developed focused on drawing energy from the sun.

Since the 1960s, Takis has participated in numerous international exhibitions, including Documenta in Kassel, Germany (1977 and 2017); the Venice Biennale (1995); and the Paris Biennale, where he was awarded first prize 1985. More recently, his oeuvre has been showcased in significant solo exhibitions at Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre (SNFCC), Kallithea, Greece (2021); MACBA Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (2019); Tate Modern, London (2019); Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2015); and the Menil Collection, Houston (2015).

Among the esteemed institutions that hold Takis’ pieces are the Centre Pompidou, Paris; New York’s MoMA and Guggenheim Museum; Houston’s Menil Collection; London’s Tate; and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice. In 1987, Takis completed his Foret Lumineuse (Luminous Forest), a multi-part installation of ‘Signals’ in the Esplanade de La Défense, Paris, making it the city’s largest public art commission.

www.ftn-books.com has currently 3 Takis titles available.