Ilga Leimanis
Ortelius Drew...London
Ortelius Drew is a collaborative, mobile, and performative drawing project led by artists Doreen Wittenbols (Amsterdam) and Ilga Leimanis (London). Taking the city as our principle subject matter, we focus on public settings of leisure (gardens and parks), sites of temporary architecture as well as public museum collections. As present-day flâneurs, we move through the city establishing temporary, yet deeply empathetic and intimate relationships with all that we experience.
The artists of Ortelius Drew work both individually and together in public. We lead drawing groups in our respective cities; and in the process, we attract observers from the public - who in turn take part in the broader, participatory aspect of this work.
Please visit www.orteliusdrew.com for more information or contact to join the drawing group mailing list.
Group dates and locations:
Imperial War Museum
27 March 3-5pm
The Imperial War Museum is unique in its coverage of conflicts, especially those involving Britain and the Commonwealth, from the First World War to the present day. It seeks to provide for, and to encourage, the study and understanding of the history of modern war and 'war-time experience'. It is proud to be regarded as one of the essential sights of London.
Wellcome Collection - exhibition Identity: Eight rooms, nine lives
18 February 7-9.30pm
Doreen Wittenbols will joins us for drawing at the Wellcome Collection. What influences or determines our sense of who we are? What makes one person distinct from another? How does science inform human identity? This major new exhibition explores the tension between the way we view ourselves and how others see us.
The British Museum - Egyptian sculpture 2600 BC - 2nd century AD
21 January 6.30-8.30pm
Large-scale sculpture was an important feature of the great temples and tombs of ancient Egypt and was believed to be imbued with powerful spiritual qualities. Sculptures on display in Room 4 include stylised depictions of kings, deities and symbolic objects ranging from the time of the Old Kingdom to the middle of the Roman Period. There are also architectural pieces from temples and tombs.
Royal Festival Hall Foyers
1 December 2009
The opening of the Royal Festival Hall in 1951 heralded the artistic revival of post war Britain. Some 50 years later this landmark building has been reopened after 2 years' refurbishment, the culmination of 15 years design work since Allies and Morrison's appointment as house architect in 1992. The transparency of the foyers and their flowing internal spaces were always distinctive elements of the Royal Festival Hall building. The refurbishment project recovered the clarity of circulation, reinstated the significance of original entrances on all sides of the building and cleared out the clutter of commercial units. The refurbishment of the fabric of the foyers, replacement of original 1950s carpets and reintroduction of original strong colours used on the walls, with the addition of new lighting, has revived the vibrancy of the spaces.
Paddington Station
12 November 2009
The station was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel in association with the architect Matthew Digby Wyatt and was completed in 1854. One of the most important 19th century industrial buildings in the world: a station that has been in constant but changing use since its completion. A station whose history is still evident in its rich architectural and engineering fabric and for those with a little time to investigate, in its fixtures, fittings and features.
The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
27 October 2009
The Royal Opera House in London's Covent Garden is home to The Royal Opera and The Royal Ballet. We were again very lucky to gain access to the Opera's rehearsal room, where were drew the set for The Tsarina's Slippers and build area, where the stage set for Carmen was being dismantled.
The Sculpture Park, Frieze Art Fair, English Garden, Regent's Park
17 October 2009
The Sculpture Park at Frieze Art Fair was located in the beautiful surroundings of the English Garden. It was within a three-minute walk of the main Fair site and exhibited new works by both established and emerging artists represented by Frieze Art Fair exhibitors. Curator David Thorp was responsible for the selection and placement of the works in the Sculpture Park.
Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2009, Kensington Gardens
21 September 2009
The Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2009 has been designed by Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of leading Japanese architecture practice SANAA. Describing their structure the architects say: 'The Pavilion is floating aluminium, drifting freely between the trees like smoke. The reflective canopy undulates across the site, expanding the park and sky. Its appearance changes according to the weather, allowing it to melt into the surroundings. It works as a field of activity with no walls, allowing uninterrupted view across the park and encouraging access from all sides. It is a sheltered extension of the park where people can read, relax and enjoy lovely summer days.'
The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
26 February 2009
We were lucky to gain access to the Opera's build area, where the set for Swan Lake was assembled. We were also able to draw from a first floor, glass walled bridge that looks into Bow Street.
Wellcome Collection
5 February 2009
Wellcome Collection is a unique mix of galleries, events, and meeting, reading and eating places where you can consider what it means to be human. On this visit we drew the War and Medicine exhibition which explored the increasingly sophisticated weaponry humankind has developed which to harm its enemies, and how medicine has had to adapt to cope with the volume and the changing nature of resulting casualties.
The National Gallery
29 October 2008
The National Gallery houses the national collection of Western European painting from the 13th to the 19th centuries.
Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2008, Kensington Gardens
4 August 2008
The Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2008 was the first built project in England by legendary architect Frank Gehry. The spectacular structure designed and engineered in collaboration with Arup was anchored by four massive steel columns and was comprised of large timber planks and a complex network of overlapping glass planes that created a dramatic, multi-dimensional space. Gehry and his team took inspiration for the Pavilion from a fascinating variety of sources including the elaborate wooden catapults designed by Leonardo da Vinci as well as the striped walls of summer beach huts.
Royal Opera House Amphi Al Fresco Restaurant overlooking Covent Garden
14 July 2008
The terrace of the Amphitheatre Restaurant offers a perfect al fresco dining setting in the heart of Covent Garden. It boasts a peaceful ambience with a view of the busy yet, entertaining Covent Garden piazza below.
St John's Lodge Gardens, The Regent's Park
17 June 2008
The Regent's Park is the largest grass area for sports in Central London and offers a wide variety of activities. Henry VIII appropriated The Regent's Park for use as a hunting ground, which he considered to be an invigorating ride from Whitehall Palace. Of the buildings and monuments within the park, only two villas, St John's Lodge and The Holme, remain from John Nash's original conception of the park.
Leadenhall Market
8 May 2008
In the heart of the City, Leadenhall Market's Victorian arcades, cobbled walkways and glass roof are perfect for practicing perspective and measuring techniques or zooming in on architectural details.
V&A Museum Silver Galleries
20 April 2008
The beauty, lustre and intrinsic value of silver have made it an object of admiration and aspiration for centuries. The Victoria and Albert Museum has more English silver and a greater range of objects than any other public collection worldwide.
Vondelpark, Amsterdam
29 March 2008
The first Amsterdam drawing group date, the Vondelpark is a public urban park of 120 acres in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The park was opened in 1865 and originally named the 'Nieuwe Park', but later renamed to 'Vondelpark', after the 17th century author Joost van den Vondel. Yearly, the park has around 10 million visitors.
V&A Museum Architecture Gallery
13 January 2008
A selection from the collections is on show in the Architecture gallery at the V&A. Opened in 2004, this is the first museum gallery in the country dedicated to architecture in the UK. It provides an accessible and engaging introduction to the art, use and practice of architecture. On display are models, drawings and designs, and samples of materials, as well as photographs and fragments of buildings. Interpretation includes audio commentaries, interactive style guides, videos and touch objects.
Tate Modern
7 December 2007
Created in the year 2000 from a disused power station in the heart of London, Tate Modern displays the national collection of international modern art. This is defined as art since 1900. On this visit we drew Louise Bourgeois' Spider on the riverfront and sketched from the top floors and galleries.
The British Museum - Lycia: Nereid Monument 390 380 BC
15 November 2007
The Nereid Monument takes its name from the Nereids, sea-nymphs whose statues were placed between the columns of this monumental tomb. It was built for Erbinna (Greek Arbinas), ruler of Lycian Xanthos, south-west Turkey. Although he was not Greek, Erbinna chose to be buried in a tomb that resembles a Greek temple of the Ionic order. The monument is much influenced by the Ionic temples of the Acropolis of Athens and its lavish decorative sculpture, which can be seen reconstructed and displayed around the walls of Room 17, is a mixture of Greek and Lycian style and iconography.
Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2007, Kensington Gardens
19 October 2007
The first London group date, the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2007 was designed by the internationally acclaimed artist Olafur Eliasson and the award-winning Norwegian architect Kjetil Thorsen, of the architectural practice Snøhetta. This timberclad structure resembles a spinning top and brings a dramatic vertical dimension to the traditional single-level pavilion. A wide spiralling ramp makes two complete turns, allowing visitors to ascend from the Gallery lawn to the highest point for views across Kensington Gardens as well as a bird's eye view of the chamber below
Battersea Park - Russell Page Garden
13 and 15 June 2007
Russell Page (1906-1985) was one of the 20 century's great landscape architects. He designed gardens throughout Europe and America. In 1950 Page, who was working in Belgium and France, returned to England to direct and design the Festival Gardens for the 1951 Festival of Britain. It took him eighteen months of extremely hard work to source and organise the 'tens of thousands' of bedding plants and shrubs required. The purpose of the Festival Gardens was to make a dazzling break from the bleak rationed world of post-war Britain. The Friends contributed £9000 towards the restoration of the Festival Gardens as part of the major restoration works which were opened by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh in 2004.
Dulwich Park
11 June 2007
An early inspiration for this project was Phyllis Pearsall, the artist and business woman who single-handedly mapped out London and published the first "A-Z Atlas" in 1936. Pearsall encountered difficulty finding the addresses of her clients for portrait commissions, and decided to solve the problem herself, using her commissions' income to fund the map making. On our very first day out, we visited Phyllis Pearsall's house in Dulwich and the adjacent Dulwich Park, which was created in 1890, the Park started it's life as farmland and a group of meadows known as 'five fields' and many of the ancient boundary oaks survive today.