Favourite Paintings: 'Orange Balloon (4 Paul Adams)' by Sir Frank Bowling

I had no idea who Frank Bowling, now Sir Frank Bowling, was when I went to see a retrospective of his work at Tate Britain in 2019 but I soon perked up when I saw the colours he discovered. I love the idea of a young Guyanese man coming to London to become a poet and artist, going to art school with David Hockney and then becoming a celebrated artist with studios in London and New York who is still painting and creating today. But I'd never heard of him. 

I saw many of his paintings in the retrospective exhibition but the one that stays with me is 'Orange Balloon (4 Paul Adams)'. Paul Adams was the first black player on the South African cricket team after apartheid and this is a tribute to him. I wonder what he thought of the painting. The painting is over 6' tall so is a big piece.

Sir Frank clearly loves his colours, his abstract expressionism and his acrylic paints. He still paints at the age of 87 and his grandchildren help to deliver his vision by manipulating the paints on his behalf, just as Matisse had assistants to help with his cut-outs. 

Important Fra Angelico News

In important news about Fra Angelico you need to know that the predella panels to 'The Annunciation' in the Prado in Madrid are currently being restored. The five small panels under the main altarpiece show scenes from the life of the Virgin: Birth and Marriage of the Virgin, The Visitation, The Nativity, Presentation in the Temple, and The Dormition of the Virgin. They're possibly my favourite predella of the Fra's and I have no doubt that they will burst with colour once the restoration is complete. I'm looking forward to seeing them again when we can travel safely.

You're not allowed to take photos in the Prado so this photo is of the full altarpiece from the catalogue of the excellent exhibition about Fra Angelico at the Prado a couple of years ago.

Favourite Paintings: 'An Allegory (Vision of a Knight)' by Raphael

A painting I always like to see in the National Gallery is Raphael's 'An Allegory (Vision of a Knight)'. It's very small at just over six inches square and is easy to overlook on the wall with so many bigger paintings by the master but it's those gentle colours that first attract me, so typical of the Florentine renaissance. The painting begs many questions with what is it really about and why is it so small being top of the list (for me anyway). The label beside the painting assumes it's of the Roman soldier Scipio dreaming of Virtue and Pleasure being offered a book, a sword and a flower, representing the aspects of a knight and notes that it's painted in oil on a poplar board. Was it commissioned and, if so, who by, or was it just something he fancied doing? I'm suspect there's been lots of academic research into the painting.

Raphael must have used the tiniest of brushes to get so much detail into the small painting, maybe the brushes used for illuminating manuscripts? The landscape is suggested than fully realised but it provides an excellent backdrop to the three figures.

I'm looking forward to seeing this painting again when the National Gallery re-opens when lockdown is eased.

'Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliche' The Documentary

The documentary about Poly Styrene had its world premier at the Glasgow Film Festival on Saturday 27 February 2021, not the ideal time during a global pandemic and when the UK was still in lockdown but it had to be released some time so why not now. It was partially funded through crowdfunding campaigns, the first of which was in 2017, so it was great to see what we'd all helped to fund. It was well worth the wait, a beautiful film narrated by and featuring Poly's daughter, Celeste Bell, with never seen before photos and film clips as well as more familiar material. 

The film tells the story of Marion Elliott-Said, the woman I know as Poly Styrene. Celeste tells us about Marion's childhood in Brixton, about her largely absentee father, the racism of the time, about her hopes and dreams and seeing the Sex Pistols and deciding to reinvent herself and start her own band. And that's what she did and X-Ray Spex was born. 

This is the period of her life that most of us know Poly from, the daring young woman fronting her own band singing about oppression, consumerism and identity, hardly the subjects for pop songs back then and so she stood out from the crowd. That great run of excellent singles and the amazing classic album that seared Poly into the public consciousness and, it seems, affected her own mental health that led to the break up of X-Ray Spex. Her first solo album ('Translucence') was so different from her punk records that she was dropped by her record label. 

Celeste tells us of her parents marriage and Poly moving in to live with the Krishnas in the mansion that George Harrison bought for them and then taking Celeste to live there as well. Poly doesn't seem to have been a very good mother and Celeste ran away to live with her gran. Poly's mental health problems seemed to keep returning and this was a particularly sad section of the film.

The film skips forward to the triumphant gig at the Roundhouse in 2008 and Poly's re-emergence as a songwriter and performer leading to the release of 'Generation Indigo', Poly's last album in 2011. She died of cancer shortly after its release. The film ends with Celeste taking her mum's ashes to India to scatter in the birthplace of Krishna. It's particularly poignant that the last song on the film - as it's the last song on 'Generation Indigo' - was 'Electric Blue Monsoon' to Krishna.

The film covers the life of Poly Styrene with insights from her daughter Celeste and family, friends and people who were influenced by her. The film relies heavily on archive material rather than talking heads - we see none of the people talking about her other than Celeste and that's one of it's strengths. The narrative and flow isn't interrupted by people popping up every now and then to talk about Poly, we hear their words against archive video scenes or photos. It's also beautifully filmed with long panoramic shots and very clear and sharp cinematography. In that respect, it's quite a beautiful film. 

It's also a very honest film and I suspect Poly would approve of that. She was and is a cultural icon to many people but that doesn't mean she has to be perfect in every aspect of her life and she wasn't. Does that affect how I view her? Not in the slightest.

A film can't tell you everything about someone's life and there has to be some editing so there's nothing about the '90s or early '00s until the triumphant Roundhouse gig in 2008, nothing about the reunion gigs or 'Conscious Consumer' or 'Flower Aeroplane' albums. In a way, that doesn't matter since they weren't key to Poly's story. What was key was her magnificent re-emergence with 'Generation Indigo', the joy of it and working with her daughter Celeste on the record. And the ultimate sadness of her death mere weeks after the release of the album and doing interviews from the hospice to help promote it. 

Marion might have left us but Poly lives on and Celeste should be proud of this film, a great tribute to her mum. It's sad in places, in many places, but it's also joyful and life-affirming. Poly had no role models to help her or inform her journey but today's generation has her and so many others to draw upon. Poly has more than earned her place in our cultural history and this film cements that. See this film if you can and learn about the icon and the woman. Well done Celeste.