Tom Adam's - Agatha Christie Cover Story

My involvement with this story dates back to 2006 when I hosted the retrospective exhibition 'Tom Adams Uncovered' in Gallery Terracina for his 80th Birthday.
Tom and I became friends and I have continued to promote his limited edition prints since. Continually intrigued by his skill and story,  I have just in the last few months designed a card pack that contains twelve of Tom's favourite cover paintings. A true labour of love, I was able to pick up the first edition a couple of days ago... believe me, a cause to celebrate.
While this was going on, suddenly Torquay Museum got back in touch with me (after my first approach to them in 2006 with the occasional nudge every year) interested in hosting an exhibition of Tom's Christie cover paintings next summer. Delighted, I started the negotiations and with the budget approved, this is were we are now.









Exhibition to go on tour

Remembering the complicated, time consuming and costly logistics while assembling the original works a few years ago, I decided this time the exhibition should be exposed to a much larger audience and therefore needs to go on tour. This of course is not a blockbuster exhibition. It is relatively small and intimate in scale, never the less the Agatha Christie name is a huge international brand and insiders still consider Tom's covers the best of all the subsequent paperback editions.


Personally I am fascinated by Tom's impeccable draftmanship and painstaking dedication with which he approached and executed every single commission. And let it be said, the Christie series is only one example of his genius. Many will remember John Fowles' 'The Magus', 'French Lieutenant's Women', 'The Collector' or Raymond Chandler's 'Lady in the Lake' as iconic images.
By presenting such works I am hoping to inspire a fast moving, contemporary audience to always aspire to find that little extra touch of magic in whatever the endeavor might be.
Touring an art exhibition is a new adventure to me. I feel this exhibition is an ideal test case for a number of other projects in my vision.

Research Proposal

EXHIBITIONS FOR TOURING

It is my aim to continue to curate/produce exhibitions that will offer interesting juxtapositions and that will reach as wide an audience as possible and will inspire practitioners as much as the public.

It is clear, that any comprehensive art exhibition, requires a considerable amount of effort and commitment. More often then not, the preparation and build up to it takes a lot more time then the actual time the exhibition will be on show for. Usually the work is then disassembled and will disappear into storage or is redistributed among the participants.

With a large amount of potential exhibition spaces dotted around the country needing a full program of events, I started to wonder if it would be possible to tour or more accurately, to offer some of these exhibitions for hire as a whole package. This will not only extend the audience considerably but also generate funding for such projects.

Touring exhibitions are of course nothing new. However, they are usually associated with big blockbuster exchanges between museums and major institutions.

Therefore I am proposing to research and experiment with the idea of offering art exhibitions or an exhibition pack for hire nationally and internationally.

In its practical application, there are many aspects that need to be considered for each individual potential touring project.

• The artwork will need to be released by the artist for a lengthy period of time.
• The work cannot be sold other then when the touring comes to an end.
• The exhibitions have to be planed for touring from the beginning so that the show can adapt to a variation of spaces and environments and can travel safely and efficiently.
• Potential interest from venues will be determined by the exhibition theme, subject matter, space requirements, links to localities etc.

I will also consider the potential of offering proposals for exhibitions for booking posted on a membership led internet site. This could effectively determine if an exhibition is financially viable and perhaps provide financing in advance of investment.

As an active practitioner I will test my ideas and theory on an exhibition of the partnership of Agatha Christie and Tom Adams that resulted in more then 65 paperback cover paintings over a period of eighteen years. I will assemble as many original paintings as is possible together with some artifacts and a comprehensive story line that can tour to a variation of subject related venues after the first exhibition planed for July 2012 in Torquay Museum.

• The project will result in a diary of day to day activity in regard to the projects practical research demands working closely with the artist, the Agatha Christie Estate, collectors, publishers, Christie related sites and practical collaborations with museums, other venues, framers, graphic designers and printers etc

• To develop a wide audience I will extend my contacts to illustrators, publishers, book/fan clubs, relevant institutions and so on.

• The exhibition will be offered on a website for touring

• I propose to write a reflective evaluation about the concept and its potential to become a successful format to be added to the curators toolkit.

Assignment3 What is a reflective practitioner?

VISUALIZING RESEARCH a guide to the Research Process in Art and Design by Carole Gray and Julian Malins

WHAT IS A REFLECTIVE PRACTITIONER?

‘Reflective practice attempts to unite research and practice…’ (The Reflective Pratictioner, pg. 134, Donald Schön, 1983).

In my view Donald Schön states precisely how professionals think in action and from personal knowledge, usually not articulated. Often their decisions seem indescribable, are intuitive and relay on improvisation and learned practice.

This leads to separation of academic and professional practice.

Retrospective reflection is a critical research skill and part of the generic research process of review, evaluation and analysis. Reflection in action is a particular activity of professional practitioners and involves thinking about what we are doing and reshaping action while we are doing it. It is in a sense improvisational and relies on feeling, response and adjustment. Schön describes this process as a ‘reflective conversation with the materials of a situation”.

I am discovering, that this dynamic process ‘reflexivity” is an important concept in the development of post positivistic research methodologies. We understand and become aware of our research activities as telling ourselves a story about ourselves (Steier, 1992, p 3)

Further and particularly relevant to my personal aim, I recognize that in the idea of professionalism the most outstanding feature is the capacity of self- evaluation and self- improvement through rigorous and systematic research and study of ones own practice and where the practice is open to reflection and inquiry. The extended professional then is a reflective practitioner-researcher. McKernan (1998, p.46)

I am familiar with the problems that a practitioner-researcher encounters according to Robson (1993 chapter 15, p 466);  first of all, time availability and lack of efficient research experience. Further the ‘insider problem’, the difficulty in adopting an open-minded approach and not clouding issues by preconceptions. It is also my experience, that these issues can be addressed by exposing ideas and practices to other professionals and peers for feedback support and advice. In practice however I found this is not always easy to obtain.

A considerable advantage of a practitioner-researcher is of course the insider knowledge and experience and this will help with the trustworthiness of peers. Whatever the particular practice, as a professional I can only agree, that it is most important to acknowledge the complexity, dynamism and unpredictability of the real world.

I am somewhat relieved to find that in combining a creative with a reflective role it appears perfectly acceptable to create an individual research model specific to the needs of my professional practice by using other models, while maintaining a reasonable and practicable balance of professional practice and research. I am looking forward to discover more.

Mode of operation

Assignment 2

Identify dominant mode of operation

Scores on Questionnaire:

ACTIVIST 8 / REFLECTOR 5 / THEORIST 4 / PRAGMATIST 7

I guess it came as no surprise when my scores on the questionnaire suggested that I operate predominantly as an activist come pragmatist. 

However I feel, that perhaps in my professional life I have become more of a pragmatic activist through years of experience. The practical experience has given me the ability to assess and therefore to activate or dismiss ideas fairly quickly.  That is not to say that my leanings have not always been more practical rather then theoretical. More recently I tend to feel a certain amount of impatience towards endless pontificating and theorizing rather then doing. I assume this comes from my acute awareness of time becoming more and more precious. I know that I will find it at times quite irritating to have to write ongoing commentary about my actions, thoughts and opinions. I look at most of my work and life as a continuous evolving process, that needs to remain open and flexible and needs to operate to an extend on emotional and instinctive levels. By nature, I will usually try and find personal connections and pathways in whatever I try and do, or try to inspire others to do. This requires focused time on people and relationships with artists and practitioners of all kinds.

With my vague believe, that most of us can learn most skills if we absolutely have to, no doubt I learn quickest and best when thrown into the deep end. I know I am terribly lazy when it comes to learning something that I have no need for, or have no connection with in any way. If however I have the bit between my teeth and I happen to be inspired, I can become an obsessive theorist, reflector and activist.

In embarking on this MA I regard it as my challenge to balance my way of operating in the world a bit more evenly.