All change

Having tried for the last 10 months to break into the world of art restoration and conservation, as time has ticked past it has become more and more apparent that it is quite literally impossible unless you can afford to do a 3 year course followed by several years of apprenticeships - plus the big and final problem of there being very little work out there at the end of all of this. Not that I want to sound like I'm giving up but my determination to beat the system began to waver over Christmas when my father and I had a stern talk.

This very blog got me thinking about arts writing after making the decision that my chosen career path  wasn't really feasible right now. So, back to the drawing board...

After a few months of job hunting I am now working at The Art Newspaper. Founded in 1990, the monthly investigative newspaper is for people serious about art, it covers everything going on within the art world on a global scale. With offices and sister publications in New York, Turin, Paris, Athens, Moscow, and as of this month Beijing. It covers everything - news, exhibitions, fairs, museums, art market, conservation, interviews with artists and collectors and more. Reporting on old, new, commercial and non-commercial - seeking to know and show where the power lies in art. 

The Art Newspaper or 'TAN' for those in the know, is a campaigning newspaper, regularly publishing breaking news that gets taken up by the daily papers. One journalist went undercover to met tomb-robbers in Italy and find out the economics of the trade in illicit antiquities, another into Nablus to discover the truth about damage caused by Israeli troops to the ancient buildings. During the first war against Saddam Hussein TAN disclosed how many of Iraq's major archeological sites were close to bombing targets and published maps. It has also lobbied Italian politics over the threat posed by climate change to Venice.

Fear not, I shall continue to blog and certainly am in the right place to do so - never will I be at a loss for new material for it!

Next time you're at St Pancras, make sure you look up...

'Cloud: Meteoros' suspended high above St Pancreas International 

A giant 15 metre cloud installation was unveiled today at St Pancras station. The work was created by husband and wife Lucy and Jorge Orta and can be seen floating in the stations iconic architectural roof space above commuters bustling through the station's Grand Terrace. 

'Cloud: Meteoros' is the first artwork in a series of 'Terrace Wires' pieces commissioned by HS1 Ltd for the space which was home to the Olympic rings last summer. A variety of metal figures dance on top of the clouds making viewers stop to try and work out what they are doing.  

Meteoros has a double meaning - 'in the midst of/lofty/hanging/suspended' while also referring to 'an atmospheric phenomenon, a cloud.' The result is a suspended meeting place, an intermediary between two worlds, reality and the imaginary, heaven and earth, lightness and gravity. 

The installation will be in place until the end of 2013 so next time you're passing through, make sure you remember to stop and look up - without missing your train!

Louvre shuts due to strike over pickpockets

The infamous Pyramide du Louvre in the main courtyard

The Louvre, one of the world's most visited museums, didn't open yesterday because of a protest by staff over pickpockets. Two hundred staff took part in a strike as they said thieves were targeting employees and tourists. The museum's management said it had already asked for more assistance from police to deal with the problem.

Pickpocketing has been an ongoing problem for sometime which has grown increasingly worse over the last year. Staff have reported many more aggressive gangs, many including children, visiting. Officials have been unable to say when the museum will re-open.

I will make sure to pack my trusty bum-bag next time I visit!

Rijksmuseum's Grand Opening

The Rijksmuseum is re-opening next Saturday after a massive 10 year, €375 million (£318 million,) overhaul. The Dutch state museums renovations were delayed by flooding, asbeston and a dispute over access for cyclists, 'What could go wrong, did go wrong' said museum director Wim Pijbes. In the end the renovations took double the expected time, not surprisingly costing millions over the predicted budget.

What on earth could take that long and cost so much? If you compare the external look of the building to 10 years ago it looks very much the same. The 19th century building's red brick exterior has in fact been left in tact and it is the inside central courtyard that has been transformed to allow natural light to flood in from the 5 storey high glass ceiling - thus creating a bright heart at the museum's centre. This is the main gallery space which showcases works from the Dutch Golden Age by artists such as Rembrant, Jan Steen and Frans Hals. The Old Masters look spectacular, framed against intricately decorated ceilings and pillars which have been painstakingly recreated after being painted over in the post-war years.

The building houses thousands of other Dutch cultural and artistic artefacts though it is Rembrant's masterpiece, 'The Night Watch,' which is given pride of place, a gigantic Baroque painting of 17th century city guards teeming with drama and movement - the only work to be hung in its original place. 

Journalists take photos as dignitaries pose in front of
Rembrant'smasterpiece during a press preview  

In the halls flanking the grand gallery the decoration is more modern. British artist Richard Wright, a former Turner Prize winner, has covered the ceilings with almost 50,000 stars, hand painted in a swirling constellation.  

The museum houses more than a million objects across 80 galleries. Material used to be displayed in categories with a gallery devoted to glass, another to porcelain etc... these are now mixed together, presented to show visitors the story of art from the Middle Ages up to the 20th century. In doing this it illustrates the cross pollination between decorative and visual art, showing off interesting influences and striking juxtapositions.

The museum expects annual visits to nearly double to 2 million after the renovation. 

If your ever over that way it's definitely worth a visit!