Tai Shani: The Spell or The Dream

Strange installation in the Edmond J Safra Fountain Court at Somerset House by Tai Shani.

The main work was a giant, blue, sleeping, princess style figure in a glass box. As you got close to it you realised it appeared to be gently breathing.

Reading the blurb it was meant to represent an archetypal, fairytale figure who has slept through the violence of colonialism, economic inequality and environmental collapse. I must admit I don’t think I would have understood any of that from the figure but I did find it quite mesmeric and compelling.

The work was accompanied by a radio channel interviewing people on new ways of being collectively and a flag on the top of the venue.

Closed 14 September 2025


Review

Evening Standard


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year Exhibition 2019

Image
Delightful exhibition at Clarendon Fine Art showing pictures from the Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year TV series. I had loved the series which had set nine artists, both professional and amateur, to paint one of three celebrities. It then had a semi-final and final with them all looking at one sitter and in the final they also took on a commission. I loved the way you watched a picture build and how some were then made or spoiled by one stroke of paint.   Finding these pictures I knew so well in the flesh was therefore fascinating. None of them disappointed. My favourite artist from the final, Tom Mead, works looked just as good in real life if not better as you could see the detail. The show included his impressive self-portrait which he submitted to enter the competition, a wonderful fragmented picture of his reflection in a mirror giving a sense of movement. I loved that it included a large version of him and a miniature. His commission for the final of Jazzie B...
Read more

The Renaissance Nude

Image
Beautiful exhibition at the Royal Academy looking at the nude in Renaissance art. The show was gently themed but mainly let the pictures speak for themselves. It began by looking at the subjects, both religious and secular, which include nude figures then examined techniques and models used in these works, finishing by looking at more personal pictures. This is a period I’ve studied a lot so there were a lot of old friends and it was quite fun predicting what might appear. There were a few surprises too such as the rather surprising drawing of the Ecstatic Christ. I liked the fact the show included lots of different art forms not just paintings including sculpture, etchings, drawings and illuminated manuscripts. There were some fascinating hangs to draw comparisons particularly two sets of pictures by Giovanni Bellini and Hand Memling from almost exactly the same date. These were shown back to back in a display cabinet down the middle of one room. My favourite work was ...
Read more

Titian's The Aldobrandini Madonna : a longer look

Image
A lovely study morning at the National Gallery looking at the Aldobrandini Madonna by Titian lead by Caroline Brook. I thought I knew the National Gallery Titian’s well but I must admit to not consciously looking this one before. On first glance it looks like a standard Madonna and child plus John the Baptist with a saint but as you look closely you start to question whether the figure is a saint as she has no halo or attributes and also to wonder why the Madonna is sitting in the countryside. We started by looking at the context of the picture in 16th century Venice and where it sits in Titian’s career. Titian was prolific in the 1530s when this picture was probably painted but very little of the work survives. For example of 12 works done for the Hapsburgs only 2 survive. We spent a lot of time in the gallery looking first at a Bellini of a Madonna in a landscape and then comparing that to the Titian. The tutor made us look carefully at the work and then we compare ...
Read more