Showing posts with label OXFORD. Show all posts
Showing posts with label OXFORD. Show all posts

10.7.14

Words Of Art

Untitled (Titled), 2014 - photo by Stuart Whipps
In my latest blog entry for Ohh Deer, I attend the opening of Modern Art Oxford’s highly anticipated exhibition of new and iconic works by Barbara Kruger. The internationally acclaimed artist brings her signature lexicon of monochrome words and imagery to the historic city - a coup for a gallery beyond London’s Zone 1, let alone the M25. In addition to Kruger’s seminal ‘Paste-ups’ from the Eighties and video works that have never previously been exhibited in the UK, Modern Art Oxford is privileged to present a breathtaking site-specific installation in its Upper Gallery.

Kruger’s practice may resonate with today’s digital culture of endless self-promotion and commodification, however these very themes were being explored at the beginning of her career and before the age of the internet. 

Popular culture is central to Kruger’s manifest – identity, power, consumerism and sexuality contribute to a provocative body of work that is as potent today as it was over three decades ago.

Read my full review Words of Art on the Ohh Deer blog.


Barbara Kruger runs to 31st August 2014 at Modern Art Oxford, 30 Pembroke Street, Oxford OX1 1BP

 Twelve, 2004 - photo by Stuart Whipps

Visit jonathanvelardi.com/writing for a selection of my published writing and follow @JMVELARDI on Twitter and Pinterest for the latest from the worlds of art and design.

Images courtesy of Modern Art Oxford

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9.2.14

Cycle4Schooling

Are you already bored with that New Year’s resolution? Have you been taken hostage by the British weather? Or are you a lover of two-wheels? If the answer is 'yes' to any one of these, Al Madad Foundation wants to hear from you. The London-based charity launches its first sponsored charity challenge this year in aid of its innovative educational projects for internally displaced children in Syria. 
Cycle4Schooling hopes to raise vital funds for Al Madad’s bespoke outreach programmes designed to bring infrastructure and stability to Syrian children with a cycle event between London and Oxford - representing capitals of art and education that form the charity’s primary objectives. On 17th May 2014 the challenge will start at London’s Serpentine Gallery in Kensington Gardens, heading westwards through the scenic boroughs of the Home Counties, before reaching its final destination at the world-famous Bodleian Library, Oxford.
Al Madad Foundation is looking for participants at any level and experience to sign on, saddle up and help support this very worthy cause. Funds raised from Cycle4Schooling will continue to be channelled into projects in Syria’s largest city, Aleppo where Al Madad has fostered successful relations with local grassroots organisations over the last year; implementing a unique model of development that works directly with the local community. Largely unreported, the ongoing Syrian conflict has resulted in the closure of over 4,000 schools across the country as well as thousands of trained teachers and professionals who are out of employment. Al Madad’s mission to re-establish a sustainable and self-reliant schooling system under the direction of qualified individuals to teach children for a wage, focuses on the balance of community and rebuilds the hopes for opportunity of otherwise lost generations. With two existing sites in Aleppo, Cycel4Schooling aims to respond to the growing demand on the ground for further long-term educational programmes to be introduced in order to reach more displaced children and their families.
Al Madad Foundation's schools programme in motion
I had the pleasure of working with Al Madad on its fundraising art exhibition, Recounting Palestine’s Stories: An Intervention in 2012 (Show & Tell, June 2012). Collaborating with a charity whose mandate is to generate serious change in the Middle East from the very frontline was a personally enriching experience and this is why I wish to share Cycle4Schooling with you all in the hope you will support this inaugural event aimed at helping the futures of so many. 

The challenge is a full day commitment with several pit stops scheduled en route as well as a four-wheel return to London from Oxford at the end of the day – for a full information pack including a training programme and guidelines visit Cycle4Schooling – any further enquiries may be directed to Rasha Barazi at 0207 408 7881 or contact@almadadfoundation.org

Enter Cycle4Schooling now or if you would like to sponsor a cyclist or support any other of Al Madad Foundation's projects visit almadadfoundation.org

Images courtesy of Al Madad Foundation

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