I’d like to share my excitement about the second event this coming week, which I’ll be attending. It is the exhibition called “Fly to Baku” in Phillips de Pury & Company, Howick Place, London SW1P 1BB opens on 18th January and closes on 29th January (click for the exhibition catalogue here). This amazing and unique show is presenting the Contemporary Art from Azerbaijan, featuring 21 Azeri contemporary artists, curated by Hervé Mikaeloff. I had the honour to exhibit with one of the artists presenting his work in “Fly to Baku”  Mr. Mir Nadir Zeynalov. Our roads crossed in the international show in Gabala organized by the SEBA Cultural Exchange Association, which happened in December 2011. This event brought me to Baku for the first time, and admittedly I have decided to return to Azerbaijan as soon as possible. I was impressed with the culture,people’s kindness and their endless generosity. I have also discovered a museum, which is for me the best I’ve ever experienced, with no exaggeration - The Museum of Modern Art in Baku. I’m currently in a dialogue with them about our possible collaboration, however it’s early days for any details to be revealed. I have written a blog article about my experiences in Azerbaijan – “My visit to Azerbaijan“ please read it if you like.

I’m pleased that exhibition “Fly to Baku” will give me another opportunity to see some Azeri Art. At least two artists, if not more are exhibiting in the Museum of Modern art in Baku as well. One of them, Altair Sadiqzadeh has his sculptures set in the building, in a form of a staircase, which is in a way heart and soul of the building. The artist where he could avoided the straight lines. See the picture below. I had the pleasure to temporarily install my From the Bottom of the Sea sculpture there, with the images below again. If you would like to hear more about both, the Museum of Modern Art, why not to follow this 15min long tour video taken by me on my visit, and about “Fly to Baku”, I’ll be updating my blog after my visit. Thanks for reading and I might see you there.

My sculpture titled From the Bottom of the Sea on a visit of the Museum of Modern Art in Baku, Dec 2011

Art works of these artists features in the “London Calling”  - Abigail Box, Agnetha Sjogren, Azadeh Fatehrad, Beth Nicholas, Carlos Martyn Burgos, Chantal Powell, Darren MacPherson, Katerina Stavrou, Katerina James, Kimi Wylde, Henry Wood, Joe Cruz, Lloyd Durling, Lyndsay Martin, Masa Suzuki, Nicola Anthony, Rachel Noble, Rosie Emerson, Robert West, Senghye Yang, Silvia Krupinska, Sylvia Morgado, Sun Ae Kim, Tinsel Edwards, Tahnee Lonsdale, Twinkle Troughton, Victoria Heald, Vikram Kushwah

Like I say in the introduction video, I’ve met Patrick StPaul during The Other Art Fair in  London. He was one  of the artists presenting his work at the fair, and I was impressed by his art and his presentation of his stand. He had a number of installations positioned within a box, in a frame, under some glass domes, on a shelf or just by them selves. His work is very capturing and thought provoking. It consists of combinations of animal objects, bones, glass jars and little specimens in them and all of those are tightly connecting with StPaul’s exploration of history, nature and their dialog with the chosen objects. I felt there are many layers to his art, and with those StPaul is telling us a story. He is a sculptor, mixed media artist, story teller and a magician in my view. On the left is an example of one of his works from The Other Art Fair and below is my first interview and meeting with StPaul.

Patrick StPaul is one of those artists you can’t get bored around. His way of describing his art and his creative processes involves a set of interesting stories, often directly about his ancestors such as grandmother or grandfather, who was a pilot. There is a theatrical element in his sculptural installations, which acts as a helping tool to tell a particular story. The atmosphere around Stpaul’s work is often described by a question: Are those real? I can assure you, that yes, they are. My visit of his studio was comparable to a museum of animal skeletons and other peculiar objects. One of my favourites was a stuffed yellow chick! I think you can imagine what I’m trying to say better, after watching this little tour around StPaul’s art studio. Ready?

I think you might have guessed that I admire StPauls work. I’ll be following his career and exhibitions to come, you can do the same by following him on facebook too, or if you haven’t caught his website earlier, check it out here again or read his blog. Before I go today, I have a few images from our meeting to share with you and shortly after the live presentation on Colourful Radio, I’ll update this article with the soundtrack from it. See you soon again and thanks so much for following my blog and my next “Artist of the Month” – Patrick StPaul! All the best. Silvia

A soundtrack from the Colourful Radio from Jan 5th, where I introduced Patrick StPaul live in my monthly “Silvia  Krupinska’s Artist Of the Month”  hosted by fantastic Rosemary Laryea, during her “Life and Culture show”.