Illustrated book of the Week : Le Vodou un art de vivre

I discovered this amazing catalogue at a brocante in Paris. It comes from a swiss exhibition of Haitian voodoo objects, the pieces are arresting, alarming, intriguing, and full of dark creativity.

Accidental Sculptures

When is a sculpture not a sculpture?

When it's also a wooden coat hanger from Porte de Vanves 'Puces' in Paris.

Or a test-tube holder from the Jeu de Balle Flea Market Brussels.

Or an amazing kid's chair from the ever-excellent Steve and Edele Sorrell at Spitalfields Antique Market.

I'll never know the anonymous designers who created these beauties, but each of them give me the same thrill that I get from modernist sculpture. Who needs a Brancusi with finds like these?

A burning beacon in winters' darkest moment

Another timely post from the Venice Biennale. I thought I would share Marco Lodolas' installation for the Italian pavilion, to brighten up our horrid winter skys.

Lodoland

The Spectacular Anish Kapoor Show at The Royal Academy

Royal Academy of the Arts

Ganeshville

Yes I’m back in India ! I have been here only 2 nights and coming back to the place I’m staying last night stumbled across this street, about 100m from my place of rest. This street is known locally as Hollywood, I imagine for it’s kitsch explosion of excessive theatrical creativity.

Apparently this community of artisans in the 70’s and 80’s sculpted a very popular kind of totem that many people used as grave stones (if I understood correctly) When this particular form of sculpture became unfashionable, local artists taught them to make molds and sculpt plaster of Paris. From then on they began to mold and sculpt exclusively models of Ganesh. Luckily we are just coming up to the festival of Ganesh in about 2 weeks . At which point these finely spray painted gods will be purchased transported by pilgrims to the sea and rivers and promptly thrown in.

When I asked what they did the rest of the year, I was told that although they are very skilled and talented they are also very lazy and spend the rest of the year begging.

There is one cautionary footnote to this exuberant expression of artfulness. The vast numbers of these gaudy idols that are thrown into the sea and river all at the same time exfoliating their toxic spray paint and creating a considerable amount of pollution . So great is the problem that some enterprising artisans in Bombay have begun to present eco version painted with non polluting paints

LoadsaMoney

Here at The Curious Eye, we would never be so vulgar as to discuss money. But we hear that there seems to be some sort of 'crisis' happening at the moment, and that there's less of it around. Bummer.

Luckily we have the perfect solution. If you really want a never ending fountain of cash, there's one available. And it's guarded by two very stylish lions.

They're part of an incredible collection of 50's sculptures by Donald Gilbert that originally formed part of the facade of the Bank of England building in the City of London. Unmistakably of their era - they're a great combination of classical British imagery and mid-century modern style. 

Appropriate to their original destination, the sculptures shamelessly celebrate wealth. Some even eroticise it. This fella really gives a new meaning to the phrase 'horn of plenty'.

So, if you're a big fan of Mammon - these could be the just the right ornaments for your own personal bank vault.

The Bank of England Statuary Collection is now for sale at Westland London.