Inverness Museum and Art Gallery
14 November – 19 December 2009
A fascinating glimpse into the history of stage magic, showing a variety of theatre apparatus while also paying homage to the close-up conjuror. This is complemented by a film piece produced especially for the exhibition by artists Roger and Reid and screenprints by Edinburgh based artist Sharon Whyte. Many of the pieces on show are selections from two private collections, spanning a century of conjuring memorabilia.
Birmingham based artist Annabel De Vetten has created a stunning piece for the Shelter House of Cards Competition. The work is made up of about 800 playing cards (the white ones have all been used by magicians, the black ones are all new).
As well as the open competition, 52 well-known artists and designers have created artwork for each card of a deck of playing cards. Their designs will be exhibited at Haunch of Venison, and auctioned in aid of Shelter, the housing and homelessness charity.
Competition deadline is 21st August. Public voting for the open competition takes place from Saturday 22nd August to Friday 28. So go to www.shelterhouseofcards.org.uk and join The Fine Art of Illusion in supporting Annabel and her great piece of artwork!
The top 5 will be judged by one of the high profile artists who is also featured in the deck/ exhibition.
Artwork & image © Annabel De Vetten 2009
Artwork & image © Annabel De Vetten 2009
Glasgow’s Tron Theatre has become home for a month to a collection of learned animals ranging from pigs and dogs to sparrows and cats. The series of artworks A Sage of the Stage not a Beast in a Cage is on display in the theatre’s Long Gallery until 5th September (open daily 10am – late). Find out more about the series, the artist and the exhibition at www.thesapientpig.wordpress.com.
Image © Sharon Whyte 2009
Last Saturday was Collectors’ Day at The Magic Circle in London and the first public unveiling of my series of screenprints titled A Sage of the Stage, not a Beast in a Cage, on the theme of ‘learned’ or ‘educated’ animals. If you’ve read any of the books on magic history that mention learned animal acts then you’ll be familiar with this slightly obscure subject. A variety of animals but mostly pigs and dogs, were trained to supposedly do things such as tell the time, read and spell, perform arithmetic (all using number or letter cards) and even do ‘tricks’ with playing cards and read audience member’s minds. Conjurers such as Nicholas Hoare presented these animals at fairs and on the stage in theatres in the 18th and 19th centuries.
The surviving playbills, reviews, posters, songs and books that relate their history form the backbone of this series of screenprints. The intended aim is to convey the playfulness and eagerness with which such entertainments were both presented and received in their time, and to celebrate a unique piece of magic history using colourful imagery mixed with original ephemera.
The series will go on display again for the whole of August in Glasgow at the Tron Theatre.
Munito at Home, screenprint, image © Sharon Whyte 2009
Tingle Tangle (in reference to a type of cabaret popular in early 20th century Germany) is the title of London based artist Roxana Halls‘ exhibition, on until the end of May at the National Theatre on the South Bank. The show depicts characters in an imaginary perpetual cabaret and included in the range of ‘acts’ are a female magician and her two cross-dressing assistants, Cecilia the Astonishing and her lovely assistants Masculinum/Femininum (pictured below) as well as a number of other themes that anyone familiar with the history of magic, vaudeville, cabaret or music hall will immediately recognise, despite the characters all being original creations.
Roxana’s studio is in a disused theatre (now a bingo hall) where she inhabits one of the old bars, and the interior of this building features in much of her work. Earlier works, whilst not necessarily having specific themes linked to magic (although one of my favourite pieces is Levitating, from the Suspended Women series), have that essence of theatricality that is so much part of the magic world – not to mention the fact that the artist builds her own props – often using improvised materials – and stages the scenes before painting them, herself creating illusions.
I discovered this interesting take on using magic and illusion as a theme in art today whilst browsing Art Review online. I like the humorous aspect to his treatment of the subject, and I’m keen to find out more about his take on it because he seems to be crossing over between magic and magick in this short film and I want to know more about his reasons for doing that.
Artist and magician Annabel de Vetten’s iconic images have found the perfect outlet in her Jill Deck – a deck of cards where all of the Jacks are Jills. The set continues Annabel’s use of magic themes in her work, which has so far seen her create pieces such as an image of Houdini in trademark handcuffs and also design and paint a mural for Illusions Magic Bar in Bristol, again depicting Houdini but cleverly using a pillar to re-create the Water Torture Cell. A variety of her paintings are also on display in the rest of the bar. At her recent solo exhibition Sleightly Suggestive at Planet Bazaar in London, Annabel showed the original paintings that formed the basis for the Jill Deck.
Image © Annabel de Vetten 2009
Annabel is currently working on more magic themed pieces and plans to show some of her work at Blackpool Magic Convention next year. Check out Annabel’s website for more information about her and her work.
This is a brand new blog dedicated simply to showcasing artists that use magic, conjuring, illusion and other related subjects as themes in their work. If you happen to stumble upon it during its ‘construction’ period, then please bookmark it and come back in a couple of weeks.
