kerblammo!

Another new piece. Aren't elderflowers smashing?

Just made a little jaunt up t'smoke to see the Magnificent Maps exhibition at the British Library and The Printed Image in China at the British Museum. Both were very very interesting, and predominantly featured exhibits from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries; I was amazed by cartographers' knowledge and accuracy in such times in the case of the former, and by how thoroughly modern the prints looked, both in style and condition, in the latter. I really loved the room of twentieth century prints (many with a highly political edge) and I'm sorry to say I was far more pleased than I should have been to learn that there's a printmaker called Wang Qing. The British Museum even had Kokerboom trees in its forecourt (Kew Gardens' South Africa exhibit)! Needless to say I got very excited took lots of photos.

The biggest huddles of people in the maps exhibition were around a cracking wartime map giving the worldwide lowdown on tea (it's great and everyone loves it), and Grayson Perry's meticulous and intruiging 'Map of Nowhere'; it would have been excellent to have had more along these lines (the sheer volume and variety of beautiful maps produced by contemporary illustrators could warrant a show in itself) as much of the exhibition favoured work of a similar, albeit significant, period, style and purpose. All in all, though, two fascinating exhibitions.

Just about to start a new show myself at the Claremont (just seen I'm top of the list! Get in) here in Brighton (Hove, actually) so check that out if you're in the area. Private view is this Sunday (12th September) from 3 till 5pm.

Thanks to another good Trick Music podcast, I'm very pleased to have discovered the gloriously off-kilter plinky-plonk music of Sebastien Leger, and have also been enjoying 4DA's output, RMS & Peak, Ajja, and revisiting all my lovely old metal. Choice.