jojo's book

[Annie HillSmith]

Oh no! Riots on the street in Bristol as police crack down on small time protestors who are objecting to establishment profiteering [Tesco]...

and also ...

For those many people who follow this wonderful site & may not be aware of the facebook group which is called Robert Lenkiewicz 1941-2002 ... you may be interested to see that this topic is also being discussed there. The fb group is small by comparison with this one [less than 300 members] and has 11 administrators to date but, as Robert once said [but not about facebook groups] "all are welcome".

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=118408311571651&id=107170259311714&notif_t=share_reply

I note that Esther Dallaway has made a couple of posts there over the past few hours and has since taken them off which of course anyone can do with their own posts.  So they are not available now for people to see.  She made it clear that she was posting in her own capacity and not speaking on behalf of TLF but, broadly, she said that the Bristol exhibition was aiming to present Robert as a serious painter and had wanted to control, therefore, the type of material that was sold alongside it and that after long and careful thought she herself considered that Jojo's book was about other people's chatter about what their memories of Robert were and that this did not complement the view of the painter that they were wishing to project.  Those are my own comments from recall of what Esther had written & if I've got them wrong, mea culpa.

Myself, I think that it's interesting that she posted & then deleted. I guess she felt an impulse to explain and then either herself or possibly after comment from others [I mean here, person to person comment, not online comment]... decided that it was better to stay silent.  Never explain ... as the saying goes

http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?NeverExplain

I think I agree with Sartre that it's a matter of merchandising and that definitely gives me a queasy feeling. It's interesting that Steve Fielding [from RWA] felt that he was "forced to agree" with TLF's position and that implies that TLF, or its Chair or whoever did the "forcing" has a position of some power.  Would the RWA normally roll over onto their backs like puppy dogs and give in to a charity like TLF to the detriment of a small [sorry Jojo!] time author/publisher?  Whatever the reasoning?  Seems a bit like bullying ..

Of course this is TLF's [fantastic] project and they have shown that they can do whatever they like.  I haven't seen the exhibition yet but I can already see that it is really excellent and they deserve great credit for that.  Maybe it augers well for the future that they are controlling every aspect of presentation and are willing to en-"force" their own perspectives. 

I know the Board members will read this ... so if folk have views about their censorship of Jojo's book ... please post here so that these views can be considered at the next Board meeting.  Personally, I think it's a bit of a blemish on their record but they will carry on regardless!  HOWEVER, it's good for power monkeys to hear their constituents. Another thing that Esther said was that that people could always put themselves forward to join the Board. Hmm... I should warn you that it's thankless and hard work!

 

[Chaya Lenkiewicz]

It's a shame that Jojo's book has been made unavailable at the RWA by TLF. As for saying it's 'chatter' or 'gossip' - I disagree. Personally, in my family's case, we have many letters from Robert, hours of home video, photographs (all with negatives) and all sorts of other information to back up the things we say. To question the credibility of the information provided by people in Jojo's book, then lays open the possibility to question anything in any book.

In fact TLF has made a significant error about Diogenes in the catalogue for the RWA. My mother helped my father intensively with Diogenes before and after his death, as did a number of people; perhaps deeper research could have uncovered more facts about the reality of Diogenes.

Many people will have interesting information about my father but perhaps do not want to share this at the moment.

To TLF: What is it exactly that you find so offensive or inaccurate about Jojo's book that you have banned it from the RWA?

[WEB WEAVER]

Some biographies/autobiographies are better than others.

I wouldn't say this book would be a good one to walk away from an exhibition with. The White Lane Press ones would be much better.

They focus on the art.

I have hired a book about The Stranglers from the library called "Song by Song". Hugh Cornwell discusses the groups work.

I'm going to see Morrissey in June, but I left his biography on the library shelf. The guy who wrote it had cobbled together a load of tittle tattle from various sources. He didn't seem to know Morrissey, and appeared obsessed with his sex life/sexuality.   

First and foremost these types of books and DVD need to be about the work. That's why the Keith Nichols book, the play, this book and the Mike Palmer DVD all fall short.......... none of the authors seem to know ROL that well, and seem compelled to carry out an investigation to discover what he was really like. The name ROL then helps sell their product. 

At least TLF seem able to see sense.   

[Somerville Gallery]

As a sponsor of the RWA Exhibition I have to ask  - Have you all missed the point?
What about the FREE Exhibition?

[MARTYN]

Which is ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT by the way......

Thinking back to my visit last week I think it is the combination of things that makes the Still Lives exhibition so impressive

The light white open exhibition space in such an impressive architectural style (it was my first visit on a bright, sunny day)
 
The scale of the pictures
 
The heavy black frames which isolate the paintings from each other

The choice of both the number of paintings (not crowded and representing a wide span of Robert's work) and the way they had been arranged in the available space.

Congratulations to the RWA and Francis Mallet for an extraordinarily successful exhibition and thanks to Paul Sommerville for paying for it. What a treat for the rest of us!

[jojo]

As a coda to this debate I can announce that Remembering Robert: R.O.Lenkiewicz as told by his sitters, is now on sale a short distance from the excellent exhibition.
If you're visiting Bristol you can get it from Blackwell Bookshop.... 87 Park Street BS15PW, or ring them on 0117927 6602.
They only have 20 copies so when they are gone they are gone.
And a big thank you for the support I received from so many people, both in the posts and in person.