Around the main exhibition space, affixed to the windows, were Francesca Cho’s ‘stained glass’ drawings Fruit of Words and Tree of Words, (coloured pencil on tracing paper). Aimed at children, they contained Ghandi’s adage: ‘an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind’ – a couple of words from the motto were inscribed on each of the panels, so that as you walked around the room the pictures told a story. Deceptively simple in style, yet nevertheless containing a powerful message. In a welcome attempt at education and multiculturalism, some of the panels contained Hangeul script as well as English (above left - click to enlarge), and one afternoon earlier in the week Cho had spent an hour in a workshop with local school children explaining her work and encouraging the children to explore their own responses, which were displayed in the library the following week.

Francesca Cho’s Little Dream Garden, tucked in to the porchway either side of the front door, looked somewhat dark and forlorn when I visited, a consequence of the time of day: with the candles unlit, the work was full of potential, but without the magic and spirituality that the work takes on as soon as the flames are brought to life. Presumably a combination of cost and the potential fire hazard meant that the work could not be seen at its best the whole time. The use of feathers hung on nylon threads suspended above the candles seemed to symbolise free-floating spirits waving in the breeze.

Fortunately Jo Seong-hee visited the exhibition at a more auspicious time (or took her own matches) and fully captured the impact of the installation, as it was intended to be experienced.

Peaceful and uplifting.

Free Words was at Mayfair Public Library 15 - 31 July 2008. Francesca Cho’s installation was sponsored by Rolawn, and mentioned on their blog here.

Photo credits: images with candles lit, plus top right “stained glass” picture are all by Jo Seong-hee.

Francesca Cho will be participating in the group exhibition ‘Free words’ at the Mayfair Public Library, 15 - 31 July.

This is the first exhibition to be held in the library space and complements nicely the National Year of Reading. ‘Free words’ explores the censored word, printed matter and use of language as means of expression, through the interpretations of five artists, with site specific installations, painting, photography and sound pieces:

• Marisol Cavia
• Francesca Cho
• Sumer Erek
• Marko Stepanov
• Katie Sollohub

Mayfair Public Library is at 25 South Audley Street, Mayfair, London W1K 2PB [Map]. Opening hours 11am-7pm weekdays, 10:30am-2:00pm Saturdays.

Cho’s installation is sponsored by Rolawn, who also sponsored her previous turf installation at Conran’s Bluebird shop

Links:

• Free Word Show channel on YouTube
• Notice of exhibition on City of Westminster website
• Rolawn website

World Religion Day is practiced in all countries. Its mission is to foster the establishment of interfaith understanding and harmony by emphasizing the common denominators underlying all religions. The event was instituted by the Bahai community in 1950.

Sacred explores these common denominators and also the differences between religions and belief systems; the interweaving message throughout is of the world as one single global community. The reverberating pieces displayed also reveal the aspects of religion and spirituality that are personally sacred to each exhibiting artist.

The Deep Spring of Life, Francesca Cho (2005), Oil on Canvas 95×127cm

My work is abstract and tends to be meditative. I focus on themes and preoccupations held in common by all religions. From my perspective as a Roman Catholic it is perhaps to be expected that I regard universal themes as inspirational — the word catholic meaning ‘universal’. Whilst my work has been published in Oremus: the magazine of Westminster Cathedral, this is not to say that my paintings are ‘religious’ or tied to a belief system. But again and again people have told me that they identify and recognise the spiritual nature of my work. It pleases me to hear this because every artist hopes to elicit a deep response in the viewer. Since there is a profoundly spiritual dimension to the human person and to all faith systems worthy of the name, my hope is that the paintings are able to move and delight those who see them. My fundamental religious belief is that love and peace are fruits of all great religious traditions when practised with sincerity and lived with commitment and integrity.

And the connection with the anti-clerical Garibaldi (1807 - 1882)? ‘Garibaldi is the only wholly admirable figure in modern history’ claimed AJP Taylor.

Garibaldi was offered a ticker tape parade up the “canyon of heroes” in New York City. The Jesuits stirred up the Irish Catholics against him and in order to keep the peace he refused the offer. Of all the many world famous personalities to have been offered this singular honour, Garibaldi remains the only person to date to have refused it. ^[1]

Cho’s work grants him the honour posthumously.

The Only Person, Francesca Cho (2007), oil on canvas 77×57cm

Giuseppe Garibaldi: Uomo della libertà , uomo dell’umanità runs from 10-20 January at Museo Storico di Bergamo - Convento di S. Francesco (below right)

Sacred runs from 18 January to 16 February at Novas Contemporary Urban Centre, 73-81 Southwark Bridge Road, London SE1 ONQ, Mon - Sat 10-6.

Cho is currently preparing for a solo show in April.

Links:

• World Religion Day website
• Novas Contemporary Urban Centre website and exhibition page
• Garibaldi 200 website

1. Reformation.org

Some thumbnails of the work of some of the other artists are below:

View a slideshow of the complete set here. The set includes a couple of shots of a dancer interpreting a little fable written by one of the artists, accompanied by a recorder player. Most of the photos were taken by my 7-year-old niece, Heather. Not bad, huh?

The picturesque Austrian university city of Graz (above) hosts an unusual exhibition from mid-September. From 15 Septmber to 13 October the Botanical Garden of the Karl-Franzens-University will be the setting for an international collaboration of installation art.

The Botanical Gardens themselves are worth a visit in their own right, with their spectacular new greenhouse:

From the official press release:

“Rags in the wind II” (Fetzen im Wind II) is an exhibition of international contemporary art with the character of transboundary cooperation, ethnic great variety and global communication.

Numerous national and international artists will show their installations and artworks to the theme “Magic” between the trees and in the greenhouses of the Botanical Garden.

Representing the UK will be Korean-born artist Francesca Cho. Her works for the exhibition take their inspiration from the geometry of the building, and the mystical and spiritual significance of the various geometric forms in Christianity and the philosophy of Pythagoras and Aristotle. Pictured below is a detail from Floating Soul 1.

Links:

• Graz tourism website ( in German)

Trackback:

• Stracci al Vento site

Cho has been established in London for more than ten years and her work has been widely shown internationally, including Seoul, Berlin, Rio de Janeiro, New York, Madrid and, most recently, Recce in Italy.

There’s a feature on the festival on the BBC website here.

And the official press release below:

East @ West Wing Arts Festival is back!
British East Asian Arts Festival in Slough: 3rd March 2007

After pioneering success in 2006, East @ West Wing arts festival returns to the West Wing Arts Centre in Slough on Saturday 3rd March 2007.

The East @ West Wing Arts Festival is a platform to introduce British East Asian Contemporary artists and performers to the public and industry professionals in the south-east. The festival aims to place the West Wing Arts Centre as a champion of cultural diversity.

During the festival The West Wing will showcase works done by visual artists, dancers, theatre practitioners, musicians plus many more. Best of all, admission to the event is free. The festival date, 3rd March, has been chosen to mark the end of the Chinese New Year festivities.

There will be a family open day in the afternoon from 2.00pm to 4.00pm and then a more adult themed evening session starting at 7.30pm, presenting play readings, music and enchanting short films.

The Festival Director, Jonathan Man said: “It is extremely exciting to hold this event again and build upon last year’s success. This festival is showcasing an amazing variety of artists which will create a useful network and a legacy for the future. I would encourage anyone who enjoys the arts, and wants to join our Chinese New Year celebrations to come along.”

Highlights of the afternoon’s performance include:

• A soup event by Chong Boon Pok and Yak Beow Seah, two culinary artists who turned a gallery in Whitechapel High Street in London into a venue for serving free soup.
• A children’s theatre play, Tales of Old Japan, written and performed by Kumiko Mendl.

Highlights for the whole festival include:

• A painting exhibition by Francesca Cho, a London based Korean artist, whose vivid work has been widely exhibited in the UK and abroad.
• A sound installation exploring culture difference by Taiwanese artist Tsai-Wei Chen
• Short films by Fiona Kam Meadley from Malaysia, Xiaoxiao Sun from Beijing and Chooc Ly Tan, a French Chinese artist.

Don’t miss a unique and exciting day, which will be full of fabulous new British East Asian talent.

The West Wing is the first arts venue in Slough in over twenty years. Funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Arts Council England and Slough Borough Council, and with a fully equipped 250-seat auditorium, box office, exhibition area and bar café, the centre is just 15 minutes walk from the town centre, bus and train stations.
www.artsinslough.org.uk

West Wing - Stoke Road - Slough - SL2 5AY

Her contemplative work, to which the images below and my words here can’t do justice, recalls Rothko but also is inspired by landscape.

Visit her website for more images. She plans a solo show in London soon.

Review by Beccy Kennedy

The serene setting of the Jerwood Space provides the perfect offset for the vivid works of eleven Korean artists. With the exception of Kira Kim’s light installation, I Love U, and Sangjun Roh’s miniature, cardboard people, the works are surprisingly painterly for a contemporary art show, whilst being diverse in their approach to 2D. Yujin Kang’s dazzling, dexterously painted scenes of swimming pools, including one which lurks, glimmering beneath the hatched yellow lines of a road, reflecting their shadow, (left) particularly stand out. Kang blends precision with fluidity, realism with random imagery, and beautifully captures the theme of the exhibition, staying still whilst moving forward, the contrasting yet harmonious relationship between tranquillity and energy.

Seunghee Kang paints on metal or colourfully embroiders highly busy, dystopian scenes of a misguided modernity. Her caricature styled, figurated vistas evocatively sit somewhere between Spitting Image and Nineteen Eighty-Four. The meticulation is awesome and the impact is big. They provide an alternative to the more abstract paintings, such as Francesca Cho’s intense but enlightening oils and Chulwon Kwak’s peaceful, shadowy acrylics. Sea Hyun Lee’s oil on linen literati style, classic mountain-scapes, Between Red, (right) provides the only obvious reference to “the East” through its form and content. Yet the archetypical traditional Korean/Chinese style painting is transmogrified through Lee’s delicate but persistent application of solely red tones, creating an impressive and somewhat unsettling unexpected surrealism. Korea’s traditional pictorial history is immovable whilst cultural experimentation will always be unstoppable; Lee brings the two forces of past and present together ^[1].

If you’re not a fan of contemporary art, you may be surprised by the degree of figurative painting at this show. Amongst the sensitive and vibrant Expressionist abstractions, romantic landscapes, soulful still-lives and cardboard sculptures, there should be something at Still Dynamics to activate your cultural taste buds and something to leave you standing still in your tracks, contemplating the enduring magnitude of fine art. Be dynamic and get yourself along to it now because the art works will dismantle and disappear to other parts of the world, before you can say “2007″!

Links:

• Jerwood Space press release. (Jerwood Space is at 171 Union Street, London, SE1 0LN)
• Beccy Kennedy’s home page

1. The choice of words in the title to this article - Unstoppable forces and immovable objects - is taken from Iain Bank’s Walking On Glass, first published in 1985