Curriculum vitae

I've just been looking at a print-out of the artist’s CV. It’s strange reading about a visual artist without any of the visuals. (This of course is one of the deliberate challenges of the blog.) But work when fresh must always try to be seen in the flesh first. I must say: examining the CV is like peering at a beautiful and detailed map. (I am much less modest about the artist than the artist is.) All the rivers are there. Important place names. One or two borders. The occasional former country. Some new ones. Starting from the top, there's the artist’s name typed in Century Schoolbook. She uses her maiden name. A good name. Sharp: nice and curt. Yet: feminine. Then the place of birth. Not too detailed, rural sounding, rural enough to conjure up a pastoral image. The date of birth is absent, though never necessary when exhibition dates feature. (The artist started young.) Education is next. Two colleges. A foundation course, not described as such, and a degree at a well known art school. Next, the solo exhibitions. I count an impressive eleven, starting in the UK and ending to date in Italy. (Belgium, Germany, and Austria come in between.) Then we've the group exhibitions, a sizeable twenty-three. This resembles a list of north European concert venues, though New York, Florida, and the Czech Republic also feature. Then: publications. (I note the absence of 'The Artist's Husband'.) There are seventeen publications in all, including a major political journal, a national newspaper magazine, and a well meaning literary organ. No, the profile is good - a beautiful nose, you could say - and rounded off with eight major collections. Just now, thinking over it all again, my eye returns to the top. Solo exhibitions. I try visualising what comes next. I can see the work. I can see much of the work. (You know what I think about that.) I just can’t picture the venue yet.