Cathy's Art Diary

Interesting exhibition at the Halcyon Gallery of work by Bob Dylan with an emphasis on his metalwork. I loved his gates made of bits and pieces of iron work such as cogs, pullies and tools within a gate shape. I particularly like one with a mincer on it and a spanner to hold it closed.   In the description he says that gates can shut you in or shut you out and describes seeing iron work all around his as her grew up, seeing “The kinds of images which tattoo themselves onto am impressionable mind”. The exhibition also included others sets of work such as his Drawn Blank series of paintings of life on the road giving a glimpse into a private world. Downstairs were his series Revisionist Art with mocked up magazine covers and Gangster Doors, shot up car doors with posters of 1930s gangsters. I found the iron work the most interesting pieces and certainly preferred them to the portraits shown at the National Portrait Gallery earlier this year. Reviews Telegrap...

Stunning exhibition of painting of the River Thames by Kurt Jackson at the Redfern Gallery. As someone who was born and brought up near the Thames in Oxfordshire and now lives overlooking it in Woolwich I found this exhibition really beautiful. The works covered both urban and rural aspects of the river with an impressionistic feel. Some pictures were more distinct than others but they were all lovely! Painting is so much about sight but I liked the way her also wrote on the work what his other senses were telling him as he worked for example naming birds he could hear singing or in one just putting “mouthful of damsons”. He also included some ceramics with stencils of river bank plants and I badly wanted the earrings in the shape of the river! I made do with a signed book!

Wonderful exhibition at Pace Gallery at the Royal Academy showing new work by the sculptor Kevin Francis Gray. The centre piece was “Twelve Chambers” twelve life sized nude figures in bronze. Other than two couples each figure stood alone but were grouped around one another. It was like being at a party with people who didn’t speak to each other. I wanted to take round canapés! Each figure was individually beautiful but became more powerful as a group. All the figures are based on real people who live near the artist and are named. I was not so sure about the marble figure called “The Ballerina” as it was almost too beautifully finished and polished. I preferred the rawness of the bronze. Finally there were four big bronze heads, again of people local to the artists. These were hollow but the inside was burnished so that a smoothly shining surface showed through the features on the face. Again I found these very powerful and they would look lovely in an outdoor space....

Small exhibition at the Pace Gallery at the Royal Academy looking at the work of the American artist Paul Thek. I did find this a bit of a hotch potch of work but I did like the seascapes painted in newspaper so bits of the text showed through and his pictures of views through windows. There were signs that he was a great draftsman so I found it odd that he also did some very childlike paintings which just seemed a bit rough. I also admit I didn’t understand the Perspex box in the middle of the room.  

Interesting exhibition at the Royal Academy reviewing the career of the sculptor Bill Woodrow. I loved the wonderful big rooms full of works which each had a space but could talk to each other and you could see similarities and differences. I also liked the fact they were displayed without barriers between you and the works. In the first room I liked the items made of sections cut from household appliances and reworked while still attached to the appliance. I loved the monkey on a filing cabinet with the draws behind it with their bottoms made into bombs. In another room there were a number of works based on models of books including his entry for the Fourth Plinth competition. Also a series he did on beekeepers exploring the balance between the beekeeper, the bee and the natural world. The last room was the more up to date works including a small black and white sculpture of Inuits in their own style and lily pads with three men holding snakes. Review Telegra...

Fascinating exhibition at the Royal Academy looking at the work of the 19th century French artist Honoré Daumier. Earlier in the year I did a course on 19th century art which kept referring to Daumier as he was not only an artist who bridged the gap between classism and Impressionism, but was also a political activist and commentator on society at the time through his cartoons for the newspapers. I loved the lithographs/cartoons and even found myself laughing out loud at some of them. Even though he political figures might be different somehow the sentiments could be applied to any time. I particularly like one of two artists painting outdoors. One paints the landscape the other paints the first one! I also liked the small caricature busts he made of political figure to help with his cartoons. I wasn’t so struck by the paintings which felt a bit course but I did love two possibly unfinished works of men hanging on ropes. They had a very Impressionistic feel to them an...

Nice exhibition at the National Gallery of Scotland looking of drawings by the Scottish portrait painter Allan Ramsay. I liked the fact that where a drawing was a study for a finished work a photo of that work was included in the exhibition. Some of the drawings were beautiful especially his studies of hand which he considered important for the expression in a portrait.   He became principal painted to George III and there was a lovely study of a crown for a portrait of the king and studies for Queen Charlotte and her children.    I was particularly interested to see that he was a friend of Pompeo Batoni, the wonderful Italian portrait painter. The exhibition gave a real sense of the personality of the man as well as his art.

Small exhibition at the National Gallery of Scotland pairing shortlisted entrants to the Picture Books Scottish Illustrator 2013 award with established illustrators as mentors. It was interesting to read what the pairings had learnt from each other and to see the works of both of them. I loved work by Lesley Barnes for a book called Jill and Dragon with lovely slightly medieval illustrations especially one in pinks and purples of birds invading a castle.

Innovative exhibition of work by fashion photographer Viviane Sassen at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. These were fascinating photographs which often used mirrors either in the picture or to take the picture. For this reason the start of the exhibition was a moving projection of images across the floor and a full length mirror so you became part of the image. She also often uses figures in the shadows or black of colours or objects to break up the image such as the one of a model bending over whose head was obscured by a hanging towel. These were clever artistic works but I felt it was hard to describe them as fashion photos as there barely showed the clothes.

Fun exhibition at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery looking at Scottish comedians and entertainers from Harry Lauder to Billy Connolly. It took you through the different phases of 20th entertainment music hall, variety and television. Looking at the stars of each through paintings, photographs and ephemera. The most dramatic picture was one of Rikki Fulton by Thomas Kluge, a dark realistic picture which seemed to contrast with his roles in panto which were described. The worst was an awful chocolate box style picture of Kenneth McKeller!

Lovely small exhibition at the Scottish Portrait Gallery looking at the commissioning of   a new statue of History for the entrance to the gallery from Alexander Stoddart. The original figure had been removed as it was so badly weathered but it was decided to commission a new one when the gallery reopened after refurbishment and it was unveiled earlier this year. The display took you though the whole process from the first sketches, through worked up drawings to casts and the final production. There was an interesting series of photos showing all the processes involved including how to enlarge from a model to the full scale statue using a framed box. It introduced me to the idea of a supporting leg and playing leg in a statue and how the emphasis tends to me on the supporting leg to try to stop it looking too dominant.

Exhibition at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery showing the results of five community projects re-assessing landmarks in Scottish history commissioned following the reopening of the gallery. It took five themes, work, union, faith, civil war and roots. It was good to see another work by Charles Avery showing the town square of his imaginary island as there had been work by him in a recent Courtauld exhibition. The roots section was particularly interesting looking at how migrants to Scotland have put down roots and was represented by music. Thanks to the nice warden who came and put the music on for me when I was starting blankly at a record player wondering when I couldn’t hear anything through the ear phones! Best of all was a quote from a teenager in the faith section “When I was a teenager I was an atheist, That in itself required some believing.”! How true!

Exhibition at the National Museum of Scotland looking at Japanese theatre prints which were made as souvenirs for theatre goers in the 19th century. Kabuki is a type of stylised theatre including dance, drama, music and acrobatics. Most of the posters were a triptych design with a continuous background but one actor on each sheet. The pictures from Tokyo were in pale muted colours but the ones from Osaka were bolder. There were also pictures of actors off duty which showed a sense of the celebrity culture we see now such as a scene from a calligraphy shop. My favourite was called Dakoku Dancers and showed 2 dancers in almost tartan trousers doing a rather stompy dance in a street with a dramatic vanishing point behind the central figure.  

Super exhibition at the National Museum of Scotland looking at the life of Mary, Queen of Scots. It went through her life in chronological order with a narrative commentary round the middle of the gallery and the objects illustrating the story nearby. I thought I knew quite a bit about her but I had not realized she became Queen at just 6 days old.   She made some poor choices in her life but a series of misfortunes early on stacked the cards against her. There were some wonderful objects in the exhibition such as the crime scene plan of Darnley’s murder and furniture and décor from Mary of Guise’s house. There were also some great pictures which I’d never seen including some amazing portraits in enamel. I loved a reconstruction that had been made for the exhibition of a 3D image of her based on a series of early portraits to show what she might have looked like when living in Scotland as there are no portraits from that period. It was magical to see her as it wou...

Fifth session in a six week course at the National Gallery on the period covered by the Sainsbury Wing roughly 1260 to 1500. This week the course leader Richard Stemp looked at the role of religion as this was the main reason to produce art in the period, as devotional works for public and private spaces. He talked us through the iconography of a number of the pictures including the earliest picture in the National Gallery collection by Margarito d'Arezzo and the Crivelli Annunciation. He also looked at how new ideas which took hold in this period such as the Immaculate Conception were shown in art. In the second half Pieta Schade, Head of a Framing Department, talked us through the aesthetic choices made by the gallery when framing a picture. He looked in particular at the reframing of the Virgin of the Rocks.    

Second week of a two part course at the National Gallery looking at the current exhibition “Facing the modern : the portrait in Vienna 1900” and putting the works into context. This week concentrated on the wider context of portraiture in Europe at the time drawing parallels with the Impressionists, Van Gogh and Picasso drawing on the National Galleries own collection. It was fascinating to consider whether Vienna was unique or whether it was responding to more general trends in art. We also looked at earlier works but I found this less useful as somehow comparing a Viennese portrait of 1900 with a Vermeer seemed a bit tenuous. I am sure it had a influence but this section seemed more to be exploration of portraiture in the collection. It was interesting but didn’t seem to connect to the subject in hand.  

Exhibition at White Cube, Bermondsey, of new work by Mark Bradford. I loved these paintings which my brain sought to work out and decide they were maps or landscapes and I tried to read the words under the surface and make sense of them. A friend I was with just saw them as nice patterns and shapes which showed they can be viewed in different ways. I loved the work in the room 9x9x9 called “Calls from your cell phone” which consisted of 150 black and white panels with bits of the words of a poster on them. The effect was of being in a mausoleum surrounded by tombs.

Relaxing exhibition at White Cube, Bermondsey, of new work by Larry Bell. These were very relaxing abstracts which looked like crumpled paper but were collages. Your brain started to make up stories about what they might be showing. There as one which appeared to be like a seated nude and reminded me of The Bather by Ingres. I also liked his relaxing hanging sculptures in a painted laminate so that they had an almost ethereal colour to them as the floated in the gallery.

Neat little exhibition at Greenwich Heritage Centre using items from their collection to explore the history of public collections. It was an eclectic mix of items from bits of Roman statues to stuffed animals. However my favourite has to be the Mayors old toilet role holder! I am proud to live in a borough that would preserve that!

Fourth session in a six week course at the National Gallery on the period covered by the Sainsbury Wing roughly 1260 to 1500. This week the course leader Richard Stemp looked how the works were taking us through the techniques used to make an early altarpiece such as the Pessellino altarpiece in the National Gallery. He talked about the commissioning process and what the artist would need to do sell his ideas to the patron. He then talked about how each layer of the picture was built up including the integrated frame. In one fascinating section he looked at all the different styles of gold work in the Wilton diptych. He also touched briefly on works on linen. In the second half Jill Dunkerton from the conservation department talked about how oil painting became more significant but also debunked the myths drawn up by Vasari about its invention by Van Eyck and its introduction to Italy by Antonello.  

Interesting exhibition of contemporary art from London in an old office building on the Strand being used by the Moving Museum, a travelling program of contemporary art exhibitions in different cities across the world. I should have read more about this before I went as I assumed it was going to be quite small and began making note son each artist thinking there would only be about 4 or 5 but turned a corner and realized it was huge! It has a slight feel of being a mini Biennale, a wonderful hotch potch of art. There was so much that you could linger over what you liked and just move on from what you weren’t so sure about.   The space was fascinating to as it was the first floor of a stripped out office building so it had a derelict feel to it and many of the artists had used the space to shape the art. It was a rather eerie feeling to be there on my own but somehow that just heightening my response to the art. I loved an installation by Samara Scott who painted th...

Excellent exhibition at Somerset House of the Stanley Spencer pictures from the Sandham Memorial Chapel which is currently undergoing renovation. It was fascinating to see these pictures in a different context. I know the chapel well and love the space and the art in but this was a chance to look at the work with a fresh eye. They were beautifully hung in the central gallery of the space in the same arrangement as in the chapel but slightly lower. I was so impressed that instead of putting labels on each work there was a small leaflet to pick up to read more about each picture. This saved much blocking f the works by people reading labels. I loved the fact that the works were put into context by not only including sketches for them but also portraits of Spencer at this time and two war works by Henry Lamb who he was staying with when he devised the scheme and got the commission. I will definitely be making at least one return visit as I find however often you see...

First week of a two part course at the National Gallery looking at the current exhibition “Facing the modern : the portrait in Vienna 1900” and putting the works into context. This week led by Rachel Barnes concentrated on Vienna and was a good description of the exhibition taking us through the pictures and discussing why they have been hung in the way they have and what dialogues this sets up between works and artists. Because the show jumps around in chronology the talk did too and I would have liked just a bit more structure to it. I would also have liked a bit more context on how and when the Succession was set up and what society was like at the time. It was a fun talk but I think I was just looking for a bit more. The second half looked at Klimt in a bit more detail but as the first session had overrun this was quite brief and again I would have liked a bit more and a bit more of run through his life. It would be great to have done the same with some of the othe...

Third session in a six week course at the National Gallery on the period covered by the Sainsbury Wing roughly 1260 to 1500. This week the course leader Richard Stemp looked at the importance, particularly for works from this period, to realise that they were not made to hang in the sort of gallery setting we see them in now. We had to think about the space they were made for and what else might have hung with them. He have the wonderful example of the gallery’s Duccio Annunciation in which the virgin seems to point oddly over her shoulder. It is only when you see the praedella it came from that you realise she is pointing at the prophet who foretold the event. The second half was Alan Crookham, Research Centre Manager of the National Gallery, who looked at the Sainsbury Wing itself, how it was commissioned and how the design was reached. He had wonderful items from the archive with him such as the notes made by the architects and gallery staff on a fact finding trip they ...

Small exhibition in the library of the Whitechapel Gallery looking at the work of Acme, an artists’ initiative which buys houses for artists to live and work in in the East End and ran a cutting edge gallery. This was a really impressive archive of an organisation with gallery event lists, posters, letters and much more.   As well as the information in the displays there were also books of material such as all the tenants newsletters for certain dates. I so wanted to go to the gallery and see some of the fascinating shows and installations they had. I loved the idea of man who took a derelict boat and reworked an represented it in the gallery in real time. The organisation still exists and supports over 600 artists and manages 546 studios in 14 buildings in Greater London. I had not known about them before but will now look out for Acme supported artists.  

Delightful exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery looking at the relationship between industrialisation, art and social reform from 1880 to 1940. The exhibition focused on the Manchester Art Museum, Leeds Art Club and the Mass Observation project and had many works from public collections in the North West.   All three were fascinating but I think they brought the Manchester Art Museum to life best. The idea was to open a gallery in a working class area to educate and provide leisure. Realising a static displays wouldn’t bring people on repeat visits they also organised a series of talks and lectures. As well as telling these stories there were also some lovely works. I liked the design for a union banner by Walter Crane, a stunning pencil portrait by Emily Ford and a sweet, slightly Greek Eric Gill of two skaters. The final section picked up the idea that local museums often had a section on their local industry so they included a section on cotton. It looked not ...

Interesting retrospective at the Whitechapel Gallery of work by Sarah Lucas. I went along to this exhibition because I felt I had to go to add to my knowledge of contemporary art but I loved it. The works had something really interesting to say but they said it with such a light sense of humor that you didn’t feel too bludgeoned by them. The first room was a wonderful jumble sale of Lucas’s most iconic works so there were lots of toilets, figures made of tights, mobiles, images of herself, dirty mattresses and fruit and much more. The objects seemed to have a greater resonance because there were so many. When I have seen Lucas’s work before it tends to be one piece with a lot of space round it and a reverential hush. This was a great way to show the work. Upstairs there was a room of pictures of nude men sitting on chairs with their genitals partly obscured by food or beer cans! The commentary described it as “Masculinity is presented on a totemic scale but is also re...

I nteresting but slightly worthy exhibition at the RIBA looking at 20th century Lithuanian architecture. It looked at three periods in the country’s recent history and then under themes such as housing, leisure etc took an example from each period. I thought the modern period came out of it best and I loved the Zarasas Lake panoramic path, although I am not sure I’d be brave enough to walk on it! I also liked the 1940s house. There was a lot to read in the exhibition but not so much to see which seemed a strange balance, It was worth reading to see some of the stories of the buildings such as the church the country clubbed together to build by buying stamps at the value of a brick but by the time it was built the soviet era had started and it became a factory! The two videos were interesting but I would say if there is no sound track just annoying music please turn it off!

Fascinating exhibition at Tate Britain looking at occasions in English history where art has been destroyed whether for religious, political or aesthetic reasons. The religious section was probably the most detailed and looked three distinct periods, the Dissolution of the monasteries, the reformation under Edward VI and the Civil War. We think of the Dissolution as a destructive phase by actually Henry tended to just remove things that would make him money. It wasn’t until later that we see the wholesale destruction of images because of religious ideology. These displays showed just how much Britain had lost at this time. I think most countries had an artistic golden age, or maybe more than one, and I suspect the late medieval period was one of Britain’s yet we largely ignore it because so little is left. I loved the fragments form the screen at Winchester which were so crisp because they’d been buried rather than weathering, it gave a wonderful view of what the world mus...