Cathy's Art Diary

Small exhibition at Tate Britain in the Art Now series of works by Hurvin Anderson called “Peter’s series”. These pictures show the interior of a barbershop set up in Britain in the 1950’s by the newly arrived Caribbean population. These shops were often centres for the community. Pictures on the left hand side as you entered just depicted the space but as you moved round the room they became more distinct until the final three included a figure waiting to have their hair cut. I found these pictures very peaceful and oddly like Flemish interiors!

The fourth Triennial exhibition at Tate Britain celebrating current trends in British Art. This was a mixed collection of contemporary art. The highlight had to be the three talking robotic heads in the final room of “Giantbum” by Nathanial Mellors. These three faces mounted on machinery nodded, rolled their eyes and sang and talked. I found them hideously life like, mesmeric and beautiful. In an odd way they reminded me of Anthony Gormley’s “Fields” and Sam Taylor-Wood’s “David” both works of art I found it hard to leave as they were beautiful and there was a real sense that they were going to continue once you left the room and might do something different which you would miss. Another stunning piece was Loris Greaud’s “Tremors where forever (Frequency of an image, white edit)” which translated the artists recorded brainwaves into vibrations in small white units on the floor. These made the whole floor vibrate in different places. It’s the first piece of art I have come across that

Rather luscious exhibition at Tate Britain of the work of Van Dyck in Briain and for British painters. This was one of those exhibitions which becomes a portrait of a generation. I always think of Van Dyck as the painter of the Civil War but was surprised to find he died the year before it started. Instead he is recording that moment just before its outbreak. With the rich fabrics and courtly life I had a real sense of a society which could not have continued as it was. That something had to happen. It reminded me of Edwardian England just before the First World War and I was pleased to find that two of the last pictures in the exhibition were Sargents. The exhibition was set into a context very well with a room at the start devoted to art in England before Van Dyck’s arrival and two rooms at the end on his influence since his death. The tape tour was good two setting up a narrative and acting as a proper guide around the show rather than just a click the number at the picture approac

Small exhibition at the National Theatre to accompany the play “The Pitman Painters” about a group of artists from a Northumbrian mining town. These pictures had a naïve but charming quality with a slight resemblance to Stanley Spencer. Mainly by Oliver Kilbourn they showed scenes of life in the mine and around the town. I loved the series of five pictures of wash day which finishes with the children in the wash boiler having a bath. Also one called “Spring 1941” of daffodils in a window with a sign advertising the fact the house had a stirrup pump. I saw the play about the group the same night and thoroughly recommend it. It explored the idea of what art means in life and the notion of class in art. It was much funnier than I had imagined it would be and its sentimental socialism reduced me to tears at the end. Reviews Independent

Exhibition at the British Museum looking at the historic and mythical city of Babylon. I would have liked to see more archaeological remains from the city, although what they had was spectacular. There were a lot of interesting tablets of writing which were fascinating but it meant there was a lot to read and some of the cases became a bit samey. I liked the first gallery with the wonderful animals in brick from the main gate of the city. These were set on a beautiful blue background. The exhibition also looked at the role Babylon has played in mythology and the Bible looking at how the Tower of Babel and the Hanging Gardens, Belshazzar’s Feast and the Fall of Babylon have inspired artists, writers, poets, philosophers and film makers. However I could have done with a better balance between the reality and the myth. Reviews Times Guardian Daily Telegraph Independent Evening Standard

Excellent exhibition at the Natural History Museum to mark the bi-centennial of Darwin’s birth. This exhibition took you through the process of how Darwin’s theory developed starting with his observations on board the Beagle, though the development of ideas once he was home, publication and the effects of that publication. Finally it took you through what the theory was and how modern scientific discoveries such as DNA have supported it. I found it magical to see the original of Darwin’s tree of life drawn in his own notebook. I also liked the way the start of the exhibition captured his youthful enthusiasm and showed you his observations rather than the conclusions. It blended his professional and personal life well and I liked the recreation of his study at Down House. However probably stars of are the live exhibits Charlie the iguana and the ornate horned frog. I wonder if either of them realise they are in an exhibition! Reviews Times

Wonderful exhibition of wildlife photographs at the Natural History Museum of the best photos in this annual competition. I always mean to go to this annual exhibition but often run out of time. This year are some stunning images in about 14 categories. They are beautifully displayed with back lighting which gives some of the pictures an almost 3D quality. The pictures show a number of things. Some are studies in patience with photographers having waited hours and in some cases months for the image they want of a rare animal. Others are studies in technique or texture. I like the fact you don’t need to have travelled thousands of miles or be intrepid to enter, many of the best images are local to where the photographer lives. My favourite shot was one of a close up of a rain drop on a leaf with another leaf reflected in the drop by Darren Leal. In the same category “In praise of plants” I also like a water lily photographed from below by Frederick Ehrenstrom. Reviews Evening Standard

Small exhibition in the café gallery of the National Portrait Gallery to mark the publication of a new book by the National Portrait Gallery that traces the cultural history of the twentieth century and its leading personalities through the pages of the magazine Vanity Fair. This was just a small exhibition of photographs and seemed hardly worth the effort as there had been the major exhibition last year of Vanity Fair portraits. It was nice to see some of them again but it didn’t make me buy the book!