They Are Legion

"Nationalism is the culture of the uncultivated, and they are legion"

Mario Vargas Llosa in Contra Viento Y Marea, page 439
Quoted by Clive James in Cultural Amnesia, page 792

Quoted by The Bloggist of this Blog, 21st March 2021

Josef Albers and Kazimir Malevich collaborate on a new work

 The Bloggist and his friend, Alfred Jarry, meet Josef Albers and Kazimir Malevich.

Albers and Malevich collaborate on a new work.

“Wir wollten uns auf den neuesten Stand bringen und uns mit diesem Street Art-Zeug beschäftigen”, confesses Albers.

“C’est un peu, euh, sombre”, suggests Jarry. “Pas de couleurs sourdes, juste des nuances de gris?”

Malevich wants to know, “Как вы думаете, это работает?”

“Natürlich funktioniert es, Kazimir; glaube an deine Kunst.”

Bloomsday

The Bloggist celebrates Bloomsday with a visit to Nora Barnacle's home in Galway from where she left to work in Dublin. There she met James Joyce. Their relationship started off well and with no illusions, in her own words, "I knew him at once for just another Dublin jackeen chatting up a country girl". The Nora Barnacle Museum was closed when the Bloggist visited and it appears it generally is closed. As Billy Pilgrim might say, "So it goes".

The Marriage of Heaven and Hell

The Bloggist and his friend, Alfred Jarry, take a walk with Billy Blake and Adrian Henri.

"You know what I saw the other day?"

"No Adrian, why don't you tell us?"

"I saw the daughters of Albion arriving by underground at Central Station and then eating hot Eccles cakes at the Pierhead. They went on to write ‘Billy Blake is Fab’ on a wall in Mathew Street.”

Jarry looks thoughtful, “Ça pourrait être un poème?”.

Paul Delvaux and Georgette Berger at the café La Fleur en Papier Doré,

Paul Delvaux sat at the café table with Georgette Berger, “Je me demande ce que René peint?” to which Georgette replied, “Je ne peux pas te dire, wie zal leven zal zien, tu ne crois pas?” Georgette’s little Spitz wanders off, “Où es-tu Lou-Lou? ”. Delvaux looks for Lou-Lou. “René dit que les gens cachent trop bien leurs secrets. Dans les tableaux de René, tout ce que nous voyons cache autre chose. Alleen het beeld telt, het is allemaal poëzie en een gevoel van mysterie. Ah, daar ben je hondje.” Aleksandr Rodchenko and Varvara Stepanova join them. Rodchenko lays his glasses on the table.

For Sale!

The Bloggist and his friend, Alfred Jarry, offer for sale a vintage print by the Bloggist from 1976, approximately 175mm x 152mm, for £500.00p or, taking a leaf out of Yves Klein's book, half an ounce of gold.

Yves Klein's "Corde Bleu"

The Bloggist and his friend, Alred Jarry, while walking through the fields near Fordingbridge came across this Readymade by Yves Klein. Originally intended for his exhibition, “Proposte Monocrome, Epoca Blu”, this piece was deemed too big for the Gallery Apollinaire. For many years “Corde Bleu” was in a private collection but in 2018, to memorialise the poisoning of Dawn Stugess by KGB Agents during their attack on the Skripals, it was erected on the banks of the River Avon.