Reminiscent - Eau de Rodin/Rodin Odour
Manchester Art Gallery - 29 July 2026, 6 - 8pm
I presented a serene sensory take on Auguste Rodin’s Age of Bronze.
A moment of scent-uality, a restrained re-presentation of Rodin’s remarkable and controversial sculpture from 1877, that quietly flanks the stone stairwell of the entrance hall of the Manchester Art Gallery vestibule.
Depicting fragility and fortitude, a lithe young man caught in a suspended moment of revitalisation. The male musculature is magnificently rendered in the cool metallic bronze cast. A Rodin masterpiece that required your input…
I individually dispensed a fragrance to intrigue, you were encouraged to re-appraise the statue, to absorb, with olfaction and a quiet sniff of a poignant choice of perfume.
There was a chance to engage with myself, the artist/researcher and share scented anecdotes and smell memories. I encouraged feedback to form part of my PhD research work linking sculpture with aromas.
Can a scent conjure an art work?
>> Manchester Art Gallery Event Link
Grimsby Venus
I've been perplexed by the Grimsby Venus de Milo.
Keeping my eyes peeled and my nose cleared.
The Grimsby Institute of Further and Higher Education houses a plaster of Paris, life-size copy of the Venus de Milo. It has been well loved and was utilised for life drawing. It stands in a vestibule corner, sometimes it gets sketched, draped in fabric or photographed by inquisitive students.
After my visit to the Louvre, to see the original, pedestaled version, I asked the Institute whether I could attempt to introduce fragrances with their copy….
ART ODOUR - ODOROUS ART
My PhD work is proving to be very evocative - often when talking about how the research started, I find the conversation quickly becomes infused and engulfed with people’s memories and personal associations with perfumes and fragrances and the attempts to describe and recall people, situations, commemorative experiences…. I have always wanted to harness this ‘power’ with my art practice with these conjunctions - what is produced?…. please feel free to share any experiences, especially if you are a practitioner.
