My artwork, economic turmoil, and cronyism in the arts in the UK.

 

I have started working on new art projects, which I am very excited about. But, due to the cost-of-living crisis, I have been going less and less to central London to view exhibitions, this is due to the high cost of trains, to trains being run at over-capacity, trains being constantly delayed or to continuous strikes. I have hardly been using public transport and have just been getting around thanks to lifts from friends with cars. Some of the exhibitions have been rather expensive to view, so I decided not to bother to see them at all, which is sad, I know. An example of this is the Hilma af Klimt and Mondrian exhibition. I love both artists and I would like to think that it is thanks to my earlier blog entry that Hilma af Klimt is more well-known, but this exhibition costs £20, which does not sound much for these two well-known artists, but if you add it to the cost of the train and the cost of something to eat, you are looking to fork out a minimum of £50 for the day. This equates to roughly $63.43 dollars for a day out for one person just with the bare minimum: train, transport, the visit to the exhibition, and something basic to eat; not much of a fun day out when you might be prioritising which bills to pay or how to keep a roof over your head. I am not sure how can a family or a disabled person can afford this (the disabled discount for the above exhibition is just one pound cheaper), most disabled people are on really low incomes and find it hard to get employed or find a paid job in galleries, museums, or places in art competitions, but the same system is happy to charge a disabled person the same price to a non-disabled person for expensive art courses or art degrees that seem fairly unlikely in getting them a job where, in actuality, such courses are likely to put them in debt. The reality is that a disabled person is going to find it hard to get a job in the art world or more generally in the real world. There aren't many opportunities and there is still a lot of stigma, especially for people with an invisible disability like myself.

With councils going bankrupt due to mismanagement or corruption, or both, the first thing that is going to disappear is funding to essential services: there will be further cuts to an already underfunded arts sector and cuts to services to the disabled. I find it funny that now they are interviewing George Osborne and David Cameron about austerity; back when they came into power, I did forewarn about them on Twitter, and I was correct. I could see what was going to happen. See below some of my photographs from that period at Tent City St Paul's Cathedral (Occupy London Protest).

Anyway, I have applied to LensCulture with one photograph to their Street Photography Competition, (see link below).

I am making new artwork which I am happy about. I have been doing well thanks to my self-promotion and the Internet (Google & Microsoft); a collector contacted me recently wanting to buy a couple of my paintings. Overall, I don't feel I have had the same opportunities as a non-disabled person or someone with contacts with my level of experience and qualifications. I was just chatting the other day to a friend of a friend, and I asked them, how did they get the solo exhibition in the famous gallery in central London? They replied that they knew a friend that works at the gallery, that's how they got the exhibition

A couple of years back, I asked one of my teachers at my art university how she got the job at another art university. She replied that she was put forward for the job by a friend of hers who already worked in the famous art university in London!  But it left me wondering how many people in the media and arts are getting jobs in England thanks to knowing someone else inside of the company, is it a widespread practice? I was thinking about how the intern who was also the ex-lover of Phillip Schofield got the job at ITV. I am afraid we are not equal when it comes to applying for jobs, especially if you are disabled or have a chronic condition, or you come from a poor background.

Even in the heat, I have been able to make art - see some of my paintings. I am also currently working in creating a new installation with found objects.

If you want to support my artwork, send me opportunities, pass my blog to others and if you like my blog ask me to write a paid article for your paper.