All work and no play describes my summer this year. So I headed for the Arts Club in Mayfair with delight to celebrate the publication of Andrew Logan: An Artistic Adventure. One of the first artists-as-recyclers, Andrew Logan’s singular, flamboyant sculptures are created from shattered glass, fibreglass resin and found objects. The Cosmic Egg, Millenium Pegasus, Black Icarus, jewelled portraits of Maria Callas, Gandhi, Zandra Rhodes, Elizabeth Taylor…Logan’s work is inspired by cultures and icons from East and West, and exemplifies his belief that “imagination can take you everywhere.”
Marie Christopher is a keen collector of Logan’s jewellery: “It doesn’t matter where you wear it; it always attracts comments. I own several pieces, but as I am a cat lover, I think my favourite is a spectacularly large pin with a cat face on it. I wore it one night to a State dinner with my husband Warren, at the White House, for the Russian premier, Boris Yeltsin. The next evening, the Russians hosted a reception at the Russian Embassy in return. We were mingling with the guests when Bill Clinton came over for a chat. “What a wonderful pin you were wearing last night,” he remarked. Well, I tell you, it’s not bad for a woman’s ego when the President of the United States comments on your jewellery.”
Andrew Logan is also the creator of the fabulous, outrageous, anarchic Alternative Miss World (AMW), “a surreal art event for all round family entertainment.” The first AMW was held on 25 March, 1972; the twelfth AMW is being held on 2 May, 2009 at the Roundhouse in Camden. It’s well worth the trip.
More childlike enthusiasm of a different variety the following evening, when I attended the launch of the Children’s Bookshow 2008. Anushka Ravishankar read from her latest, gorgeous book, Excuse Me, Is This India?, described by her publisher as ía roving travelogue through a child’s imagination.” Then the Children’s Bookshow competition was announced (in association with The Independent and the Jaipur Literature Festival). The prizewinner gets to spend three nights at the literature festival in Jaipur in January 2009; air fares from the UK to Delhi are included. Definitely worth a try.