Cathy's Art Diary

Disappointing installation/sculpture outside the Royal Festival Hall by Malak Mattar in response to World Refugee Week. Mattar based the work on her experience of growing up by the sea in Gaza and how its meaning changed from a place of happy childhood memories to a place from which many people cross the sea to find a better life. The work blends these experiences and was made with the collaboration of young people from Greece and Ukraine. I say disappointing as the description, which I read before I saw the work, seemed to imply a larger and more complex piece but in fact the work recreated a pile of children's giant buoyancy aids which was placed on the roof of the temporary summer bar. I realised I had seen it before and dismissed it as a decorative feature. Closes 21 September 2026

Fun installation outside the Royal Festival Hall by Lakwena Maciver and Abimaro Gubell. The work consists of a brightly coloured pavement and a soundscape which you can add to via sound boxes with large coloured buttons which create sounds you can start to mix as you play with them. I had to have a go on each of the boxes. Evidently it is encouraging us to think about "how creativity and play can nourish us" and it certainly gave me a moment of delight on a sunny day. Closes 20 September 2026

Exciting exhibition at the Hayward Gallery of a selection of work by Anish Kapoor. I love the way Kapoor’s work alters the space around it and creates optical illusions. In this case the first work you see is a huge red inflatable which takes up the whole first gallery and blocks the usual route around the space. When you work your way to the other side via various other spaces it is blocked again by a series of smaller red balls. One room is devoted to his works in the deep black to which he has exclusive artistic rights, Vantablack which absorbs 99.6% of light. Painted on walls it gives a sense of a deep hole and on objects it flattens the shape. People stop and stare and seem to be drawn into the work although others just take selfies. My favourite pieces were the highly polished sculptures on the terraces which both reflect and distort the space around them. Closes 18 October 206 Reviews Times Guardian Telegraph

Clever and varied exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery looking at art inspired by the sun and the moon. The work was arranged by time of day and mixed old and new art from around the world as well as discussing folk law related to the time. It was a lot to do in one show which was well laid out with clear commentaries. There were witty touches like including a large photograph of Noel Coward on a beach for the zenith ie midday section. Think about it. Stand out works of course included Luke Jerram's "Helios" which I last saw at the Old Royal Naval College and it's always fascinating to see it in different spaces. I loved an Evelyn Dunbar of seven figures representing the days of the week at different times particularly as this was the second time I'd seen work by her in a week. I liked the inclusion of costumes from the Royal Opera and Ballet as well as Margo Selby and Helen Chadwick's woven and sound installation referencing the Navajo women weavers who c...

Interesting small display at the Imperial War Museum on the singer Dame Vera Lynn. The display marks the acquisition of Lynn’s archive by the museum and including more than 600 fan letters, her own correspondence with her husband Harry Lewis, a diary from her 1944 tour in India to visit troops, and items from her tropical uniform. This display had a selection of items including that 1944 diary, a hat she wore in a film, photographs and a moving letter given to her by a soldier to send to his wife. Closes April 2027

Fascinating exhibition at the Imperial War Museum featuring paintings and drawings of London during the Second World War. Arranged in the themes of travel, the Thames, the street, shelter and personal stories, the images were well explained, describing the event shown and the artist.   The images were beautiful and featured many of my favourite early 20th century artists. I even found this Duncan Grant of St Pauls. Other shout outs to   some beautiful Evelyn Dunbar’s including this one on a Red Cross train, an image of soldiers on a tube platform by Henry Carr and one of camouflaged cooling towers by Colin Morris. Closes 1 November 2026 Review Times