Professional engagements, talks, corporate events etc.
I undertake a variety of professional engagements, both on my own and sometimes (too occasionally) with musicians and actors. I am always interested in exploring something new.
All contractual arrangements are made by my agent, Caroline Dawnay of United Agents: [email protected]
Corporate events
I have enjoyed speaking to a number of corporate groups in the context of exhibitions, at dinners and in special locations, including most notably the Sistine Chapel after hours. I work in particular with the Boster Group who specialise in class high events for corporate clients.
Please read a copy of the Terms of Engagement for further details.
Talks/lectures
I speak on a variety of topics: Leonardo, aspects of art from the Renaissance to now, art and science, visual representation in science. My book Iconic Images from Christ to Coke contains lots on branding. The talks can be addressed to a range of audiences from academic groups to festivals and commercial organisations, and explore diverse issues such as lateral thinking and visualisation.
I also work with performers on innovative presentations of historical material that have something of the nature of lecture recitals.
I have explored shared motifs and modes of expression in the art and Leonardo and music with Robert Hollingworth of I Fagiolini. Further information can be found at the following links:
I Fagiolini: Leonardo Shaping the Invisible
The Sixteen, Leonardo, Shaping the Invisible album
With the actress Ruth Rosen I have set up evenings with Leonardo and Michelangelo. Below gives an idea of how ‘performative talks’ are organised.
Daggers Drawn. An evening with Leonardo and Michelangelo
Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo Buonarrotti, the great Renaissance artists, expressed themselves vividly and originally in words. Leonardo produced many thousands of pages in his notebooks, covering an astonishingly wide range of subjects about man, nature and the arts. Michelangelo wrote powerful letters and deeply moving poetry. Together they redirected the course of the visual arts, particularly the dramatic portrayal of the human body. Yet, they were daggers drawn. In both personality and outlook they were deeply incompatible. Contemporaries tell of their bad personal relationship.
The event is organised more like a concert than a lecture, blending images, readings and history. It consists of two 50-minute sections, with an interval. Before the interval, we will encounter Leonardo in words and images context; after the interval it will be the turn of Michelangelo. Each will be introduced by readings that set the scene for the personalities and careers, before moving into their literary creations and ways of thinking. We are presenting a compelling and vivid Renaissance diptych in a new kind of way.