Affecting Perception: Art and Neuroscience

I’ve just returned from being involved in a fascinatingly different art project which may very well make me look at my artistic practice in a new way.

Affecting Perception: Art and Neuroscience is an exhibition and a series of seminars. It brings together examples of work by artists with different neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s, Dementia, Autism, Asperger syndrome and, in my case, Migraine.

I was participating in a seminar led by Cosima Gretton (one of the curators of the exhibition)with Dr Klaus Podoll of Aachen university. I was reconnecting with Klaus Podoll after some  years as he has interviewed me and written about my work on many occasions since 1997. It turned out to be a very interesting and informative event, with good audience interaction. Although Dr. Podoll and I have communicated  often over the years by snail mail, e-mail and fax (whatever that was), by both being in the same room and in front of an audience resulted in a different dynamic. Him commenting on my work and explaining some of the more technical aspects of  migraine  was somehow more exciting and real. Unfortunately, we only briefly touched on the subject of Giorgio De Chirico, one of my favourite artists and almost certainly a migraine sufferer.

The gallery is a circular building which was originally part of Oxford Castle prison It’s a challenging space to hang an exhibition, having grey walls and a staircase down the middle and quite small. But the shape and intimacy was perfect for a show to do with the brain. Even without knowing that it was to do with neuroscience, the exhibition was compelling because there was an underlying feeling that the work came from a strange place, darker in parts than others. It would have been interesting for people to have seen it under the title Affecting Perception first and then again with the words Art and Neuroscience added. I know, too difficult but in a non recession world maybe…….

The exhibition is still on at the O3 Gallery,  until 31st March and the catalogue is excellent and informative reading.

It was great meeting up with Klaus Podoll again and we are going to pick up  working together - on the subject of ‘elective affinity‘- once I’ve got to grips with the concept!

Congratulations to AXNS collective for envisaging and realising a ground breaking event, which I was very pleased to be part of.

A Rock’n’roll lifestyle without the Rock’n’roll money

Paint By Numbers Lorry 2012

It can be done. You need someone who is an expert at finding the best travel deals, good friends  dotted around the country who can put you up, generous parents-in-law, an ability to slum it and a bit of luck. I’m sure you can add quite a few other factors of your own. From the Charente to Shetland is over 1500 kms and there are various stretches of water involved as well. It would be no problem for Mick Jagger (sorry SIR Mick!) but for two artists trying to maintain the R’nR stylee in a recession it requires a lot of work-but it’s worth it. 

In France we have a fine old house, a garden for the veg, studios, nice neighbours, good light and a few little wineries who produce a good drop. Back a few years we were happy with that but then my mother-in-law intervened. Her mother was a Shetlander and my mother-in -law, being a generous person,  paid for us to visit the most northerly part of the UK as a gift. Basically we fell in love with Shetland and bought a peerie hoose with the remains of our money.

I think I’ve said it before, but so many people up there are artists, musicians, writers, poets, you name it, they are in Shetland  so there is a good buzzy creative atmosphere. We have just come back from over wintering there where the house is cheaper to heat and the weather was better than down south for a lot of the time. You can still get five seasons and more in one day (as Shetlanders say).  

We were participating in an exhibition as part of the Veer North artists’ group that we are members of. The theme was ‘Numbers’ and it produced a good show. Either or both of us do some teaching when we are there so we don’t travel for the sheer hell of it and as part of maintaining the R’n’R stylee we do let the cottage out when we are not there. 

I suppose some  might think we are being greedy but working in two places does contribute to the creative juice store, so it’s no bad thing..
Yes, it’s all my mother-in-law’s fault. Maybe she wanted a Rock’n’roll son-in-law so I’m doing my best to oblige!

Talking Migraine and Art



Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life :1



I've never actively pursued an involvement in the world of migraine, but again I find myself involved in a related project , Art and Perception. In the past I have been in competitions and exhibitions, been interviewed and written about, having to relate my experiences  re art and migraine. When younger it was sometimes done reluctantly because I didn't want to be reminded of something that was, basically, unpleasant. As I have got older the attacks are less frequent and less intense so now I am not so reluctant to be involved. As part of Art and Perception I am looking forward to meeting up again with Dr Klaus Podoll an expert in migraine art, in an 'in conversation' on March 20th. It's probably the first time that I will be looking forward to a migraine event, possibly because I feel more in control of the beast, and hopefully It will be a positive experience for all involved. Dr Podoll has written a lot about one of my favourite artists, Giorgio de Chirico, so we will  have more than one topic in common. He has pretty well proved that De Chirico suffered from Migraine, which I didn;t know when I picked up on him, or did I,sublimanally? Now, I can recognize and emphathise with, much of his visual vocabulary.

It's a pity The Migraine Man triptych will not be shown in person (only as a copy) but the exhibition will include another triptych, Always Look on the Bright Side of Life, which has only been seen once before. It has emerged from a dark and remote part of my studio to see the light of day in Oxford.

Empty Handed

JJ Ignatius Brennan  The Artist's Hand 2003

One of the curators of the forthcoming exhibition being organised by AXNS (see previous post) has come back empty-handed from Glaxo Smith Kline.We have been informed by them that Migraine Man has been designated as officially  missing. GSK don’t know where he is.The fifth biggest pharmaceutical company in the world apparently does not have an official catalogue of it’s art collection, whatever that means.But they do have someone in charge of it! Does that mean that other work they own by more famous artists ,such as John Piper, is sitting around in unmarked cupboards, unopened for ages, or on a toilet wall in one of their many sites in UK?

O K, GSK didn’t spend a lot of money, by their standards, on buying Migraine Man, but they do spend a hell of a lot on commissioning well known artists for a new site, for example. I don’t believe that they pay cash and don’t have any documentation. Should I inform the Treasury that there might be tax avoidance going on? Whatever the case, this is pretty sloppy work by one of the biggest companies in the world. I also feel a bit insulted that they have such lack of respect for my artwork I put a fair bit of time into creating that piece and you always feel if someone thinks it’s worth buying they will make sure that it is seen by others. The exhibition being organized by AXNS is a case in point, where I feel it could have maybe contributed something towards the understanding of Migraine. But the public will have to make do with seeing a printed copy of it, which will not have the same impact.

I know that other artists have had similar experiences. Why do these big companies even bother to buy work by us lesser mortals when really they want only Damien Hirsts so they can sell them on when they feel like it?

Lord Lucan, Shergar, Richey Edwards and ………

The fourth one is Migraine Man. You have no doubt  heard of the first three who all got their fair share of publicity. Migraine Man had his 15 minutes worth back in 1993 when he won 2nd prize in an art competition sponsored by Glaxo (as then called but now expanded). He then went into the collection of the afore mentioned company and at some point went missing.The person who should be most upset is the artist (me), but maybe because the artist received monies both from the prize and the sale of the work he became a tad uncaring. It has taken this long for Migraine Mans disappearance to come to light because he is required to take part in an exhibition organized by the AXNS collective…….but despite enquiries by one of the curators, Cosima Gretton, no one seems to know where he is. It’s all a bit worrying because once you hand over a family member to one of the biggest and wealthiest organizations in the world you would think that they would be well looked after. But, seemingly, this is not a rare occurrence with art works . The artist/maker and writer Lois Walpole experienced this on more than one occasion when she was involved in curating a retrospective exhibition of her work. On contacting a number of national and well known galleries which owned her baskets, with a view to borrowing them, the pieces could not be located. OK, you could argue that the artist has been paid, but when the money has come from a publicly funded body there should be more accountability.
The main reason for this blog is to put out a call to see if anybody knows anybody who knows anybody who is,or was, connected with Glaxo who may be able to shed light on the disappearance of Migraine Man. I think that first of all he was incarcerated at Glaxo’s Uxbridge location, but I’m not sure. Maybe he was clandestinely moved to another hideout, who knows? He is actually a triptych and I have added a photo below of how he looked in 1993, so anybody  who has any information please contact the police station at this address. Thank you in anticipation of a positive outcome.

Beer and Sandwiches

 I’ve been playing my melodeon at various clubs and concerts in the area recently, purely for fun. I have just got my first ‘payment’ – ok, it was only beer and sandwiches, but it marked a slight change and it got me thinking how creative people, be they artists, poets, actors, musicians or whoever, get paid and make a living. As an amateur unqualified musician, I don’t expect to get paid for playing. But, as a qualified professional artist (seven great years at various art colleges!), I expect and need to get money for my art work, and equally, as a qualified tennis coach, I expect something for teaching someone to do a topspin forehand.

Whilst arranging my exhibition in Shetland, earlier on in the year, I offered to do a gallery talk for the public. The Shetland Museum thought this was a good idea and agreed to programme it in and I was told I would be paid a fee and expenses. I didn’t ask how much it would be assuming it was a standard amount fixed by the museum. During the hanging of my show I happened to ask what the fee would be. The relevant person dealing with such matters was found and said they didn’t pay anything for artists talks…some discussion then followed! The Museum, as a professional organisation, had chosen me as a professional artist to put on a show. Ok, I wasn’t being paid to show my work, but it is equally accepted that the artist pays nothing towards the publicity or use of the gallery. In the event of sales the gallery takes a commission. That’s the norm. The same professional artist i.e. me, had been asked to give a professional talk because that is what the gallery and public would expect. So why not pay the artist for that professional service? Having presented my case later on I got a call saying that I could put in an invoice for expenses and a fee of £50!

Another instance of getting paid or not for a professional service came about recently when Lois, Jenny Shellard and I went to ‘Cognac Blues Passion’ for the day. The festival takes over the whole of Cognac with free concerts and jam sessions during the day and headline acts (paying) in the evening. Though the concerts during the day are free I am absolutely certain that the performers that are advertised in the programme are being paid because they are professional. In the afternoon we were at a café where a stage had been set up for jamming. We were discussing amongst ourselves the merits, or otherwise, of one performer when a tall guy, who looked like a blues man, started chatting to the girls. It turned out that he was indeed a blues man who had his own group and played in others, and had performed earlier on in the Festival. He had also sat in with the Allman Brothers Band amongst others and introduced himself as Junior Mack. He said he would like to play in the jam session but seemed a bit reluctant as he didn’t have his Gibson Les Paul with him, (one of 6 he owns!). It was back at his hotel - how far away we weren’t sure. We suggested one of the other musicians might lend him a guitar so he asked the guy in charge if he could play. He borrowed a Stratocaster, which I believe isn’t a half bad piece of kit and he proceeded to blow away the audience with some BB King like licks and a great blues voice. Part of his reward was a standing ovation. After he finished he came over to us and said “was that ok?” our answer was “pretty damn good”! Junior also got a free beer and I realised that my situation playing my melodeon as a rank amateur and this super pro blues man were identical. We had both volunteered to play without expecting any money. Junior generously gave the lucky audience a slice of his talent for nothing and seemed happy with his cold beer (it was a hot day) and applause.

Junior Mack jamming at Cognac (click on picture for video)

As professional creative people we can ask for money for our work but when we feel like doing so we can also perform for the sheer enjoyment, whereas a worker in a car factory would not come in to work for no pay. However, we also need to earn some money to pay for things like council tax and diesel and therefore we have to make sure we establish the terms and conditions of employment at the outset. This was something I learnt from my Shetland talk experience.

Maybe I could learn to live on beer and sandwiches but only if they were Fullers London Pride and a black pudding and mango chutney doorstop!

Drawing in the Billies: Drawing in the Studio

Hidden contour drawing

I've recently started doing drawing classes in my studio on a drop-in basis, linking in with Lois's basketry workshops whenever possible.The idea is to have both our studios being used at the same time so that we can get a good creative buzz going in our mini art school. The atmosphere will be helped even more when we get the relaxing zen courtyard finished.With its 3 metre diametre water feature(okay- pond!) our students will be able to dabble their feet and hands in it which will all help to get those creative juices flowing. The hot weather at the moment doesn't help me to finish it ( the cement goes off too quickly). This combined with me having an allergy attack from various pollen has put it on hold.  I don't get these attacks when I'm in Shetland, probably because there aren't any trees!

Something that works well is the communal lunch we have on teaching days. Everybody is asked to bring a contribution and we've had some excellent food. A hummus made with red peppers and chickpeas was both a visual and tasty treat. We seem to have a relatively high proportion of  vegetarians- is there a link between creativity and vegetarianism?

Going back to the main reason that people come to me, i.e. drawing, I always ask what they want to achieve during the class. The most frequent response is that they want to do a drawing that looks like the object in front of them. I say that they can do that without even seeing what they are drawing on the paper! I cover up their paper with a board (raised sufficiently from the table so that they can manipulate the pencil) and the students draw the contour of their hand, starting at the junction of the base of the thumb and the wrist and finishing on the opposite side.( see picture above). The result is always a drawing that looks like a hand.Recent analysis of cave art in northern Spain reveal that Neanderthal man was drawing almost 50,000 years ago. Every body can draw. As the great John Lee Hooker wrote "It in 'im, it gotta come out".

If you are in  the Poitou Charente area and would like to join us please get in touch with me.

PS Billies - Billy Bunters, Punters. Could also be Hillmans - Hillman Hunters, Punters