We want to celebrate and learn more about the characters driving the renaissance of the London gallery scene, and what better way than to resurrect THAT’s Interesting.
Last time we had Laurie Barron this time we have Fraser Brough.
Fraser Brough is the founder and director of CASSIUS&Co., a gallery of art and rare books of the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries, exhibitions of which are presented side by side.
What’s interesting in Art:
Sadly not much in Contemporary, but the past is very rich. I would like to organise an exhibition of Louis Eilshemius, who is (arguably) America’s version of Cézanne – isolated, angsty, equally full of fear and desire for women, and also a painter of Bathers. But while Cézanne is fundamentally a classicist, concerned with the weight of historic European painting, Eilshemius is a true individualist, in the American way, and developed a strategy of painting that uses chance and speed in order to directly and unconsciously spill out his inner life. The paintings are not necessarily good but they are terrifically authentic. The only person who believed in Eilshemius during his lifetime (other than the artist himself) was, famously, Marcel Duchamp, who organised two exhibitions of his work. And he has remained well-collected by many artists: Louise Nevelson, Ed Ruscha, Jeff Koons, Ugo Rondinone, Peter Doig, Merlin James, among others. I like this work below, which is painted on a piece of sheet music (something he did quite often).
What’s interesting in Design:
Someone ought to recreate Jean Désert, which was the showroom of Eileen Gray on Rue Faubourg St.Honoré – presumably the space is still there. It operated through the 1920s, which is the period in which Gray’s style moved away from the extravagant and luxurious early pieces (like the Dragons chair) and towards the tubular Modernism of her later years. That would be a great exhibition!
What’s interesting in Culture:
I have to credit my friend Guido Beduschi for recently showing me this wonderful clip of Pier Paolo Pasolini interviewing Ezra Pound. There is an English transcript in the book In Danger: A Pasolini Anthology published by City Lights. Politically they are opposites, Pasolini being a communist and Pound by this point old and fascist, but Pasolini (who was also a good poet) admires his work so much, and they seem to find common ground, speaking to each other in verse.
What’s interesting in Style/ Fashion:
I am curious about this new book about the Bloomsbury Group by Charlie Porter called Bring No Clothes, the premise of which appears to be that we all ought to start making our own clothes. To be honest I am as enthralled by the world of fashion as anyone, and I don’t know how to sew, but it is an interesting and wholesome thought, a world where to dress and express ourselves we had to sew everything from scratch, rather than just consuming what we are told to desire.
What’s interesting in Tech:
A friend recently had to undergo a major surgery and was given a choice of having the procedure carried out by a human doctor or a robot one. He naturally said human, but both the hospital and the human doctor advised him that the robot would be better.
What’s interesting in Music:
I’m afraid I don’t know anything about music.
Museum / Gallery show recommendation:
The Gustav Metzger retrospective at MMK Frankfurt (which has organised so many great exhibitions in the last few years) looks like it is worth travelling for, although I don’t think the artist, who was most concerned about climate change and capitalism, would have liked the idea of someone getting on a plane to see an exhibition. Also of interest is the Kai Althoff exhibition at Galerie Neu’s new space in Genoa – a show which instead seems designed to force you to get on a plane.
Next person:
I’d like to nominate Ted Targett of Brunette Coleman.
