Thursday 15 August 2013

Art Everywhere!

If you are not in these fair isles, you may be forgiven for thinking we've all gone bonkers again, but there is flippin' art everywhere!  Literally.  Art.  Everywhere.  All thanks to, well, Art Everywhere.  I know, I know, the clue is in the title....

Hurrah! (and shame on us all! See below...)
The idea was that over this summer, the streets of Britain would become a giant art gallery, displaying the nations favourite images from national collections.  After a fund-raising period, the marvellous folk at Art Everywhere gave the nation a week (24-30 June) to select their favourites and the top 57 of these were made into billboard-sized posters.  Now, between 12-26 August, enough advertising hoarding space has been purchased to put on a show to a projected 90% of the UK population!  Wowzer...

Gassed by John Singer Sargent
Thousands of people donated money and a final list was selected after the voting (which can be seen here).  You will be unsurprised to learn that the top two images were The Lady of Shalott and Ophelia, a fact that seemed to puzzle and disgust Journalists (much to the amusement of people like me).  This poor soul, writing in the Independent thinks we should all be ashamed of ourselves (unless any of you are 14 year old girls) for liking Pre-Raphaelites.  Yes, shame on us all.

Now comes your bit.  If you look on the Art Everywhere site you will see they have a map, but I think it would be jolly if you post here if you see one, especially one of the Victorian ones, telling us where it is so we can rush and have a good look if we're near by.  I'll start....


I saw Ophelia!  Opposite Lidl and the second-hand car dealer in Portsmouth!  I did a lot of excited squealing.  She's just down from Fratton station, if you are in the vacinity.  I have heard rumours that The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke is on the King's Road, also in Portsmouth.  So that's two.  What have you seen?

If you want to get all fancy and interactive you can download a gizmo from the Art Everywhere site that tells you more about the pictures you see.  You can also comment on Twitter using #arteverywhere.

I promise I won't be out with a kettle and a fish-slice on 26th August attempting to steal Ophelia...

9 comments:

  1. I knew you would comment on this. I have seen Stubbs' Whistlejacket and G. F. Watts' Hope. Both on Scotswood Road in the bus shelters opposite BAE systems.
    Off to find Ophelia and The Lady of Shalott.

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  2. I saw the Gary Hume in Gomersal on my way to work.

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  3. Hurrah, well done chaps. Keep them coming. I'm off to Wiltshire tomorrow and I'll keep my eye out...

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  4. Ophelia opposite Lidl? Have we entered an alternate reality? Wow!

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  5. This is great! I noticed a few at Stockport station on Friday, a Lucian Freud caught my eye. So much nicer than horrible advertising :D you never know what you will come across next, how exciting!

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  6. Weirdly I haven't seen as much of the "art" as I have seen the hype about it, I like the idea but how about a timeframe with nothing being foisted upon upon us by others ?, we could drift through an existentialist vision of the buildings and scenery on the other side of the hoarding's....

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  7. Portrait of a Young Woman Winifred Margaret Knights - lovely
    Head VI Francis Bacon - which seems to have vanished!
    both in Bolton Lancs (up North).
    Making people go all smiley on their way to work - hurrah!

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  8. Dear Kirsty
    Better late than never, I have spotted (last Friday) two (yes, two) Ophelias outside Lincoln Central Train Station. There were squeals of excitement from me which Mr Foster wasn't too keen about initially, but when I explained, he understood/. I have just posted about them today on http://feltabulous.blogspot.co.uk
    I didn't think the project would get to us in the backwoods of Lincolnshire!
    Best wishes
    Ellie

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  9. Thanks m'dears. I saw Holbein's Ambassadors at a Service Station outside Liverpool. The poster, you understand, not the actual Ambassadors. That would have been remarkable. Mind you, that skull would scare the pants off you if you happened to be at the funny angle.

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Many thanks for your comment. I shall post it up shortly! Kx