Patrick Procktor Exhibition

In a previous post NOCM had highlighted the work of Procktor, having chanced upon his 'Long Live the Great Leap Forward' of 1965-67 which featured in an old copy of Studio International (the work is difficult to trace, or perhaps had been destroyed in the catastrophic studio fire Procktor suffered). Procktor's work, always interesting in any time, appears in recent years to have renewed relevance within the revival of certain figurative approaches in contemporary painting. His fairly divergent styles can be seen to connect now to painters such as Alex Katz, Peter Doig and Elizabeth Peyton. In fact, a photograph of Procktor and David Hockney throws up an interesting comparison with the Peyton work below. The Katz comparison can be seen to the right, as another of Procktor's works enters NOCM's Top 10 Paintings.

Elizabeth Peyton/ David Hockney, Powis Terrace Bedroom/ 1998

There is now the chance to look at Procktor's work at first-hand again, with a major exhibition organised and curated by Ian Massey opening at Huddersfield Art Gallery from August 25th to November 10th. 

Vertical Painting

An interest in the possibilities of a 'billiards painting', now abandoned, led me to this interview with Malcolm Morley, from 1974 (by seminal early video documentary maker and artist Anton Perich). Morley's 'Day of the Locust' of 1977 was a past occupant of NOCM's TOP 10 PAINTINGS, and this particular interview sees him grappling, sometimes awkwardly, with interviewer Ray Gillian at his SOHO studio in New York

A Gift

NOCM has passed the 20,000 pageviews mark since starting out in January 2010. As a gift to its followers, the above pattern and soundtrack beneath should be experienced together....it links back to the very first post '1972'.