Monday 18 July 2011

The Best of Bangladesh


Diamond-studded skulls, scatology and used tampons are no longer the hallmark of today’s art. This year’s most patent trend in contemporary art is globalisation. Forms and ideals are spreading and merging – exactly like people, corporations and technology, and nowhere is this clearer than in Meller Merceux’s latest collection: Jahangir Hossain with Henry Moore.

Shared aesthetic characteristics and concepts have transcended both geography and time. Given how disparate Henry Moore’s humble Yorkshire roots at the beginning of the twentieth century seem from Hossain’s – a contemporary Bangladeshi painter – one could be forgiven for any incredulity at the logic behind bringing the two artists together.

Henry Moore was undoubtedly a modernist: distorting and contorting ideas as far as they could possibly go – “taking ideas to their nth degree”, explains gallery owner Aidan Meller. Moore’s instantly recognisable sculptures take the human form and morphs it: the faces are flatter, the torsos wider, the legs longer. Hossain’s paintings all contain the human body, but not as we are used to seeing it in the flesh.

He does away with the physical, so that he can get to the real essence of what really makes us human and what he believes is important for us as humans – the one word titles are emotions or states of being. The rapidly changing nature of our world (brought about by globalisation, not just of the art world but by whole shifts in economic, social and political structures) necessitates tolerance and thus intensifies feelings of insecurity and the heightened yearning for security from our bonds with people close to us.

The need for love, meaningful connections with others and nature are resonant features in Hossain’s work. Moore was similarly interested in the relationship between two people and this is obvious in his illustrations depicting the Second World War’s turmoil, themselves slightly reminiscent of Otto Dich’s wartime drawings. The closeness of parent-child relationships is a focus point in artist Mike Bell’s exhibition, currently on display in Meller Merceux’s Witney space.

Hossain’s subjects are clearly human but no age, race or even gender is discernible. The human elements in the paintings are virtually indistinguishable from the environment around them, similar to Henry Moore’s bronze statues in the Yorkshire Statue Park in Wakefield. Symbiosis between subject and material can was created by Moore by adapting the form of his sculptures around the material: he could look at a tree and let its shape guide his inspiration for what it would become – people today would do well to have such thoughtful consideration for nature, working with it rather than imposing ourselves onto it.

One could talk endlessly about the shared concepts, styles and motifs between Jahangir Hossain, Henry Moore and Beatrice Hoffman’s bronze figures (also displayed in this collection). But Hossain’s magnificent paintings can be gazed at again and again and enjoyed without any inkling of his underlying motivation or the traits they have in common with other distinguished artists. The works almost emit a golden sheen, a brilliance; the subjects within possessing a certain grace.

Hossain has created a signature style by using different sized combs to achieve a unique texture with the oil paints on the canvas – Standing, Emotion, The Dance, The Cave and Intimacy are highlights among many. There is even a slight resemblance to shapes in Francis Bacon’s earlier paintings… but with none of the nihilism.
Jahangir Hossain: The Cave

A smiling and appreciative Hossain was present at the private view on Thursday 14th July: the artist is humble and shy, but remarkably blithe and warm. His advice to anyone is to learn art, that is, how to create art, for it can be one of the greatest companions.

It is both uncanny and wonderful to behold the parallels between such supposedly different media and artists when drawn together and experienced in the same, tiny gallery – as if the works were speaking to each other. Hossain and Moore also share the space at Meller Merceux’s High Street location with number Picasso, Dali and Damien Hirst, all of them contributing to this unspoken dialogue.

The opening of this beautiful collection coincides with the release of Meller Merceux’s attractive, glossy and succinct new magazine. It promises to keep everyone from seasoned collectors to first time buyers informed on gallery news, art world developments, art history and art investment tips. To visit the galleries in person, head to the High Streets of Oxford and Witney. Jahangir Hossain’s collection runs until 4th August 2011.

Friday 8 July 2011

The Continuation of the Affair

In the year of Our Lord 2008, I discovered Graham Greene. Rather, I discovered a love, reverence and respect for Graham Greene. I don’t think truly discovering the author is possible when the one in question had already achieved near celebrity status and received much adulation decades before one was born. I fell into that love between the pages of A Quiet American. My tan from Thailand still stuck to my skin and I could almost smell the humidity and taste the tropical atmosphere of the 1950s Vietnam that Greene makes so palpable with his dearth of words and stark descriptions.

Like a true compulsive, I voraciously rampaged my way through as many more of his books I could find that summer: The Captain and the Enemy, The Ministry of Fear, No Man’s Land, A Stranger’s Hand, The Heart of the Matter. Perhaps it is possible to have too much of a good thing: our dalliance flickered out and I took up with older, Russian men – Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. A year later I revisited Greene and read Travels with my Aunt. The title sounds twee; both the story and the aunt are anything but.

Three years have gone by and I have viewed the world through many different eyes, but providence did what it rarely does for relationships and brought Greene and I back together, this time in Argentina. The Honorary Consul contains Malbec-blooded passion as well as Greene’s ever-present addition of Catholic doubt and piety. He has no qualms about mixing virginal purity and mortal sin within pages of each other and explores them so thoroughly, from all manner of possible angles that we are left grappling with what his actual opinion is.

Greene’s extensive travel from his early twenties onwards makes him an ideal candidate in recounting tales of adventure: always with unpredictable twists, unique and imperfect characters, set against backdrops that you could never call clichéd. Instead of long-winded descriptions, Greene lets his characters actions speak for themselves – method acting, if you like. According to Greene, “everything is sensuality – the way one holds a tea cup is sometimes more revealing than the way one makes love.” The scenes of passion between Doctor Plarr and Clara in The Honorary Consul, not to mention between many of the other unlikely unions in his stories, are unconventional, will stay remembered and make you crave such raw experience.

Greene’s tales take us on emotional and spiritual journeys as well as geographical ones. His depictions of love, turmoil and shame are sometimes so real, one sometimes wonders whether we have not felt exactly the same, sometime before. His economy with words, still managing to paint pictures worth a thousand ideas and as many sensations, makes his novels concise and the perfect size to carry around with you everywhere.

Reading Greene is also great for one’s vocabulary and you are guaranteed at least a handful – depending on current vocab. standard – of succinct beauties such as uxorious (adj. obsequious devotion to one’s wife), crepitate (v. to make a cracking sound), zareba (n. protective enclosure of bushes surrounding a village) and garrulous (adj. excessively talkative).


If I had to assign a contrived label to Greene’s style it would be Exotic Realism. Exotic in location, action and people, and so real and evocative you can feel damp air cling at your skin and perspiration run down you cheek, surprising us when we look up and realise we are still in humdrum England – escapism taken away on new tangents.

Greene could never be accused of rehashing tired and hackneyed clichés, similes and imagery. Through the people that inhabit his world, we see Greene’s spirit as a poet and regularly get treated to beautiful concepts and pearls of wisdom. In The Honorary Consul, kidnapper and ex-jail bait Aquino draws attention to the fact that in prison all inmates are fed the same meal three times a day, regardless of the crime they have been immured for. Later, the Chief of Police, Colonel Perez (played by Bob Hoskins in the 1983 film version, also starring Michael Caine and Richard Gere) acknowledges that a husband is a vital ingredient in an affair – a maxim one can easily imagine Oscar Wilde once expounding.

As a writer, it is interesting and didactic to see how the writers of Greene’s novels, such as the meticulous Saavedra, in the same novel, approach their trade – “I write five hundred words a day after breakfast. No more no less.” Saavedra’s conviction that a writer is only able to write productively at home is one that resonated heavily with me.

The Power and the Glory was a potential stumbling block for us. Probably the most Catholic of Greene’s books, the majority of the novel is told from the point of view of a “whisky priest”, fleeing persecution in the anti-Catholic political climate of 1930s Mexico. There were very frequent times during my reading of the novel that I almost gave up: the tortured faith did just that – torture. But the addiction made me keep returning – I had to finish it.

A day after finishing the book (two and a half weeks is the longest I have taken over a work of Greene) I read – was it providence intervening again? – a commentary by Howard Jacobson in The Independent postulating that a truly superb writer will not pander to the reader’s needs, simply giving them what they want: enjoyable reads, “page turners”. A truly superb writer will, in Jacobson’s words, … empower you somehow even as you resist. They stake out a battlefield you know you can't simply slink away from. Some wars insist on being fought.” He describes the exact war I was fighting with that whisky priest. I wanted to give up but I knew I had to get to the end because there was no doubt that there was something worth enduring the trauma for.

My mother – someone of a different generation, with very different religious views and different upbringing – is as much an admirer as I am. That Greene can have such devout following from two very disparate vantage points is surely a testimony to his greatness.

Greene is a genius: the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. 


N.B: This is the second time in the last three years I have written a homage to Graham Greene. My original plan was to reinvigorate the first piece with my new ideas and opinions. However, upon reading the article my 21 year-old self had written, it was clear that nothing but a wholly new piece was required. If you are at all curious to see how my style and perspective have changed, I will post or email you the 2008 Graham Greene piece. 

Incidentally, Graham Greene's family are the same people behind the Greene King chain of pubs.


Sunday 3 July 2011

The Cafes of... London (part 3)

I had to seriously streamline my choice of cafes to include in the London section, the final in my Café Culture series. There are so many which deserve a mention, albeit still representing a very small percentage of the cafes in London worth spending time in. Ones that don’t get a detailed description but should be experienced:

-       The Café in Foyles, Charing Cross Road
-       Towpath Café, Regent’s Canal
-       Inspiral, Camden
-       Peyton and Byrne, British Library
-       Local Hero, Parson’s Green
-       Timberbox, Angel


Yum Chaa, Camden Loch / Brewer Street, Soho / Parkway, Camden

Yum Chaa scores highly on three fronts. Firstly, its principal offering is tea – a rare and appreciated change from the plenitude of coffee houses. As a non-coffee drinker and tea-lover, being welcomed by a choice of over thirty teas never ceases to be novel. One can discerningly choose your tea by sniffing and sifting your way through the samples which are organised on the counter top into black, red, green and white teas. Soho Spice, Chilli Chilli Bang Bang and Notting Hill are my usual choices. All are, of course, prepared using leaf tea in a teapot and can be enjoyed iced, too.

The second winning trait of Yum Chaa is its outstanding selection of baked goods, home made by a third party and delivered daily. The brownies are some of the best I have selfishly devoured (I bore no qualms when unashamedly refusing to share even a crumb with my flabbergasted friend); the banana and Nutella cake is pure indulgence without being overwhelming and the sticky toffee fruit cake is so delectable and gooey that you will want to spend a good half an hour taking your time savouring it. 
Yum Chaa, Camden Loch

Yum Chaa’s atmosphere is what really draws me back time after time. All three locations possess a cool and calming energy, despite being situated in some of the least calming quarters of the capital.  At Camden Loch you can sit and watch the bustle in the Loch below you; on Parkway (which used to be an old pet shop and still bears the antique shop awning) you can either hide yourself at the back of the expansive seating area or sit by the glass front and watch the hotchpotch people of Camden Town pass by; the café in Soho is placed at the intersection of two streets – again, perfect for watching folk – and also has downstairs seating if one wants seclusion.
Yum Chaa sell their teas to take home at various Saturday food markets (Duke of York Square, King’s Road and Broadway Market) for a rather dear £6 per 500g of tea.

Ideal for: Discovering an oasis of calm in a world chaos, irresistible treats, decent tea.

My Village, Chalk Farm Road

If you are having trouble imagining what French farmhouse Moroccan tearoom fusion interior design looks like, then thats another reason to make My Village a regular feature of your life. The best way to reach this wonderful establishment is by Chalk Farm tube station: precluding the need to obstacle course your way through the procession of tourists and angsty-teens between Camden Town tube and the Loch. Its position also means that its clientele is not really composed of said demographics.

My Village is run by two wonderful Kurdish twin brothers – who still remembered me and my little brother despite the fact that 18 months had elapsed since my previous visit. One of the brothers is the creative force behind the sumptuous yet rustic décor. As well as selling organic cakes, home made Kurdish-inspired food and gorgeous made to order smoothies and juices, it is an organic food shop. Very wisely, it serves wine and is open later on a few evenings a week. The hot chocolate gets a very high score from this hot chocolate snob - thick, intense and not too sweet.

It is possible (and has been done) to spend close to a whole, hungover day in its snug and comforting interior: breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner – sorted. Hangover not necessary. The outside tables mean that a rare sunny day need not go to waste, either.

Ideal for: genuine and sincere hospitality and service, escapist surroundings, nutritious indulgence

Konditor & Cook, Soho Curzon

The master bakers Konditor & Cook have around five or six locations in London but its café in the Soho Curzon cinema is by far the best of its bunch and one of my favourite cafes of all time. The cakes have magical and divine qualities of taste and beauty. The Carrot Cake is a total fail-safe; the Lemon Chiffon as delicate as its name suggests; the Curly Wurly the epitome of pleasure. And cakes only make up a portion of their food selection. Not in the mood for cake? How about a meringue, muesli slice, brownie, muffins or cookie instead.
Curly Wurly: 100% of your Recommended Daily Allowance of Feel Good

It is very easy to spend enough time there to warrant the purchase of several rounds of drinks (beer and wine are available) and edibles. Curzon cinemas screen limited release films and also put on a great slew of events such as Q&A sessions with directors, free previews and the National Theatre Live showings. The bar downstairs is always populated with a mix of genuinely interesting looking people, without any of the irksome and contrived airs of the artsy wannabes of Shoreditch.

Being located in the Curzon and in the UK's theatre, film and TV production epicentre, one is extremely likely to strike up conversations with cultured people. I have made three friends who I still keep in contact with from chance meetings in K&C. Due to its seating arrangements, it is not uncommon that you end up sharing a table with a stranger, but don’t be put off: the Curzon does not attract riff raff! This wonderful place is just as suited to a solitary date with your book as it is to chats with new friends or sharing a bottle of wine and a gossip with an old friend. It also bears the recurring hallmark of excellent cafes – the glass fronted façade onto the universe outside and the lone ranger’s best distraction.

Ideal for: talking to strangers, alone time, reading, celebrity spotting (Chris Noth, aka Mr Big From SATC, for example)