On+the+Move

=**The Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art**= toc

Aaron Siskind, //Pleasures and Terrors of Levitation #59//, 1956 © Aaron Siskind Foundation, Courtesy of Bruce Silverstein, New York.

Banner, top: Eadward Muybridge, Cockatoo Flying c.1887


 * Although the problem of depicting movement in painting and sculpture had concerned artists for many centuries, the birth of the Futurist movement in 1909 signalled a renewed interest in the subject. Taking as its starting point the Estorick's own collection of Futurist masterpieces, On the Move draws on a wide range of material in many different media to provide an in-depth examination of this complex and fascinating theme.**

Many of Futurism's pictorial innovations were in fact built on foundations laid during the nineteenth century, when the emerging medium of photography began to reveal previously unseen aspects of reality. The pioneering research of Eadweard Muybridge and Etienne-Jules Marey was of particular importance in this respect. While Muybridge's iconic studies of animal and human locomotion represented the successive stages of movement in individual frames, Marey captured them on a single photographic plate, creating trailing images of motion that were not only of great scientific interest, but which have informed almost all subsequent analytical representations of movement, from the rhythmical paintings of Giacomo Balla to the famous ‘stroboscopic’ photography of Harold Edgerton and Gjon Mili in the twentieth century. Umberto Boccioni, //Dynamism of a Cyclist// (detail), 1913

Occupying a position on the cusp of the arts and sciences, this subject has long been of fascination to the exhibition's curator, Jonathan Miller. From equestrian paintings of the eighteenth century, to contemporary experiments with longexposure photography and CAD modelling, this personal selection of works illustrates the full range of artists' resourcefulness in tackling this most intriguing and elusive of subjects. Etienne-Jules Marey, //Analysis of the Flight of a Seagull//, 1887

Below: Jonathan Shaw, //Triple Jump//. Alexander Stadium, //Birmingham//. June 1996 'On the Move' on Italianfuturism.org - @http://tinyurl.com/yb3k4jn 2 days ago"Its a revelation"! - says Michael Glover, Independent Life, 'On the Move: Visualising Action'. p.10-11. @http://tinyurl.com/y9ftjl3 7 days ago"Oustanding" - Independent on Sunday! Come and see 'On the Move' today! - Open till 5.00! @http://tinyurl.com/yhwlpb3 15 days ago'On the Move' - TimeOut's 'Hot Pick of the Week' - @http://tinyurl.com/y9ln72n 17 days agoKeep up to date with all the events and other news about the Estorick by following us on Twitter or joining our group on Facebook.

Eye Blog Review
1st February, 2010 11:49 pm

Action stations. Jonathan Miller explores the analysis and representation of movement
Published on Monday, 1 February, 2010 | 12:50 pm The current Estorick exhibition ‘On the Move: Visualising Action’ is not an art or photography exhibition, though it contains plenty of both. Nor is it strictly about science or technology or cultural history. Yet all these elements are essential to this show’s success, juxtaposed throughout this small North London gallery, accompanied by eloquent, extended captions written by the exhibition’s curator, Dr Jonathan Miller.

Bronze, 16.4 x 58.5 x 25.7 cm. Dépot du Collège de France, Musée Marey, Beaune, France
 * Below:** //Dynamism of a Cyclist//, Umberto Boccioni (1913). Ink on paper, 18 x 30 cm. Estorick Collection, London
 * Above:** //Analysis of the Flight of a Seagull//, Etienne-Jules Marey (1887)

Here’s an example: ‘[Etienne-Jules] Marey unknowingly made a major contribution to the development of one of the most significant movements in twentieth-century modernism, although it was not until several years after his death that this influence expressed itself in the dramatic appearance of Italian Futurist painting (1910). For the Futurists – obsessed with the urban environment and the machine – movement and speed constituted the very essence of modern life, and capturing a sense of “dynamism” became their central artistic goal.’ On display are photographs, paintings, drawings, arcane contraptions (including Marey’s bizarre ‘photographic rifle’, sculptures, including Bertelli’s //Continuous Profile (Head of Mussolini)// and comics (//The Beano//’s Billy Whizz, **top**).

Miller’s provocative thoughts on this ubiquitous, yet under-explored subject will pique the curiosity of anyone involved in visual culture.
 * Below:** //Densmore Shute Bends the Shaft//, Harold Edgerton (1938). Vintage silver gelatin print, 19 x 23 cm. Courtesy The Michael Hoppen Gallery
 * Above:** //Motion study: male nude, standing jump to right//, Thomas Eakins (1885). Dry-plate glass negative, 9.2 x 11.4cm. Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia.

Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art ‘On the Move: Visualising Action’ 13 January to 18 April 2010 Review to follow in //Eye// 75, published in Spring 2010. See ‘Surface Wreckage’, about Jonathan Miller’s photographs in //Eye// 34. //Eye//, the international review of graphic design, is a quarterly journal you can read like a magazine and collect like a book. It’s available from all good design bookshops and at the online Eye shop, where you can order subscriptions, single issues and (new!) classic collections of themed back issues. //Eye// 74 is a Berlin special.