Crikey. Here’s the 170th post (out of 185 maybe-score)

This is from the Arts and Disability Forum on Royal Avenue, because beginning the late night art trail at 3pm means I can check into galleries like this that shut early.

Splodged together slacker two-shots of candles, jewelery, chocolate; the members show ‘Gift’, with items priced between £3 and £300.

Lucid, spooky and in flow pencil line pieces, with YOMmiest chocolate underneath.

If I’m not mistaken Leo Devlin arranged the show (he does most of the gallery arrangements I think), has done well.

Gallery opp. Central Library opens Tuesday to Friday from 10-4pm, and there’s a seasonal celebration on Thursday 19 December from 5-7pm.

I hear you can buy these cards from https://andy-luke.com/shop (UK) or Zazzle.co.uk (US)

Amazing. Next, off Royal Avenue by Ann Summers, The Red Barn Photographic Gallery.

The Red Barn is clinging by finger-tips financially these few months, it will need a bolster to stay open.

These photos were taken by an unknown photographer between 1870-1920 and only recently time and technology are compatible to access them like this.

There’s a frank honesty to them which made this one of my galleries of the night.

But then: Space Craft, and those snowflakes made from wooden intersections are awesome.

Zoom in. Jenna Magennis’s baubles are filled full of Kandorian (miniature bottle resident) delights.

DUCKS, ducks, Quack Quack, Quack Wuack!

SpaceCraft: it’s the one up that escalator!

Catalyst Arts now and Fiona Larkin’s Backstory featuring collaborations from seven other writers and artists and a Ruckenfigur – this seen-from-the-back scarved woman.

We’re invited to read into this: to create stories of hypernarrative upon our interaction, “the observer to become active collaborators who construct new meaning”.
Sorry Lass, I thought it was shit, atypical of privelege. You want collab-story, there’s a few writer’s groups around the city. Get details. Future nourishment, loftier plateaus smile.

Moving onto :

‘Boycotting Cake Bombs’, concrete, string, wire, Barry Mulholland.

Photographed from different angles.

A greatest show all round actually.

And that IS over seven foot high. “Reject Indecision Construct your Own Good Fortune”, double wall corrugated cardboard by Rachael Campbell-Palmer.

Teensy wood Birdhouse Caravan by Catherine Roberts, and there’s something about the colours of this that moved into my head like rejoining something there long ago.

More psychonaut colours. A very high standard all round.

David Mahon’s Electric Organ piece was looking a bit lifeless so I got inside it.

Upstairs in Belfast Belfast Exposed I bumped into a few friends for ‘Aftermath’, Laurence McKeown and Anthony Haughey’s photographs of Northern Irish residents who fled for the border upon the outbreak of the Troubles and their own stories. The opening was a bit too crammed to get an assessment of the work but there was a beautiful speech by the outgoing gallery director about the lost mindset of our politicians and the job upon artists to educate them.

Downstairs, the continuing exhibition focussing on the lost Yugoslavia.

Black Lamb and Grey Falcon is the name of a travelogue written pre-WW2 and followed by the photographer just before immense changes re-wrote the landscape.

The exhibition is called ‘The Lost Country’ and I’ve not described it justly here. It’s eminently worth seeing.

Christ, here comes Winter Christmas Andy.

Re-cast him as that goggle eyed organ player from earlier and look at the warm rug and trails of fairy lights, ribboned gifts, snow grounded and hanging and candy canes.

Christmas grows through the walls as kodaks at PS2.

One of my favourite themes of late, re-booting Christmas – make it more palatable, relevant and meaningful.

PS2 have that atmosphere in a bottle with animations and decorations in motion, Christmas as creativity.

And a book tree. Feck. Yeah.

Graffiti in Joy’s Entry.

An absurdist game of chess at The Black Box, I’m there for Real Sketchys.

Cold, I draw this instead, inspired by a Lee Kennedy, Terry Wiley conversation last week.

PJ Holden and Aimee Downey at the final formal Belfast Comics Pub Meet, for the time being.

Someone mentions lizards briefly: it’s enough to set me off.

And there it is. Happy birthday me.

A 1986 FA Magazine (with some great commentary), BlexBolex’s graphic novella Abecederia and a big X card from John Robbins.

Blogging new art daily has been great for my creative muscle. I’m keen to keep going! I’ve learned a lot about other people coming to this point and my expectations of the world around me. Life is falling short, so aiming high I’m always going to do better than not aiming.

I probably deserve a gallery showing after all this. Catalyst, are you paying attention?