Cathy's Art Diary

Intriguing exhibition at Somerset House which had commissioned various well known tattoo artists to produce a work on the subject of time, a classic tattoo motif, on any medium except skin. I must admit I’d avoided this show as I wasn’t sure what it was about but I was at Somerset House with time to kill and it was free so I thought why not and in fact I quite enjoyed it! On the whole the work was a cartoon like with overly coloured images and a lot of mysticism however there were also some stunning works. I loved Ichiboy’s “Where is the shop?” which is the attached photo. It’s a take on a Japanese painting but the main image is as on an iPad and the protagonist is using his phone. There was a stunning double portrait by Shawn Barber called of a man being tattooed. It’s sense of time came from the fact that multiple positions of the protagonists were shown in the one picture. Your eye made it one image and yet when you looked again the man had two heads and there were four...

A small exhibition at Somerset House of photographs of Nick Cave, Australian musician, songwriter, author, screenwriter, composer and occasional film actor,   by Bleddyn Butcher who has photographed Cave throughout his career. These were nice pictures but I was not sure what the point of the show was except to advertise the accompanying book. I must admit I don’t know much about Cave other than recognising his image and I didn’t feel the show added to my knowledge.  

Fascinating exhibition at the Courtauld of recent work by Jasper Johns. The exhibition took you through the creative process behind the work really well. Their inspiration had come from a crumbled photograph of Lucien Freud sitting on a bed in Francis Bacon’s studio. Johns had sketched this then sketched the mirror image of it adjoining it. From this a picture of skull emerges at the top of the picture. The series of works based on this were really beautiful. If you looked hard you could see the skull and the two images of Freud amongst the wonderful patchwork of paint which looked a little like the cover on the bed. He included the torn section as a void. In the largest more coloured canvas the whole effect was of a baroque memorial in a church with the blank space for the eulogy, two figures in mourning like pose on either side and a skull above. The Regrets of the title came from a reproduction on many of the works of Johns stamp he had made for turning down invita...

Delightful but busy exhibition at Buckingham Palace looking at the life of royal children who had grown up there. The exhibition was part of the general entrance and was therefore very busy! Some sections of it were scattered about the royal apartments but the bulk was in an exhibition space which was heaving with people! There were some delightful items such as nursery chair made for William, Harry, Beatrix and Eugene, a baby blanket given to Prince George by President Obama and some of the dolls made by Queen Victoria. There was a charming section of clothes including Prince William’s blue shorts and white shirt and a fairy dress worn by Princess Anne. Sweetest of all though was Prince Harry’s dressing gown made like a guard’s uniform! I loved the section on outdoor toys and I wanted the miniature caravan! Review Telegraph    

Fun exhibition at the London Film Museum of vehicles from the Bond films. I’m not a huge James Bond fan. I’ve seen most of the films but I’m not obsessive about them, but I did find this fun! There were lots of iconic vehicles such as Goldfinger’s Rolls Royce. There were also areas on different types of vehicle e such as an underwater section and a motorbike section. Lots of the vehicles were accompanied by video clips of them in action. It was well worth getting the audio tour as it was done by a stunt driver so you got some insight into how the cars had been used in the films, how many versions there were of some of the vehicles and just good stories behind them. I will say though if you are going to have an audio tour don’t also play loud music and film clips with sound as it all becomes too much! Review Evening Standard

A sculpture in the Thames by Florentijn Hofman as part of the Totally Thames Festival. This was a really fun giant Hippo which I was lucky enough to see sail up the Thames before going over to see it in its resting place off St George’s Pier at Nine Elms. It seemed to be made of planks of wood and had a cartoon roundness and big eyes. What else can one say about a giant Hippo in a river! I loved it!  

Sweet little exhibition at Tate Britain of drawings by artists wanting to make ordinary life a subject for art. Some of the works were social comment on topics such as the decline in rural life but others were just recording what was going on around the artist. I loved Arthur Boyd Houghton’s pictures of his children and a lovely picture of a woman lying on a sofa with her feet over the arm, a very unVictorian pose. A Constable of three girls at a harpsichord was pure Austen. I liked the inclusion of a sketch of a photographer by William Henry Hunt which I am sure was just a record of life at the time but seems to be a lovely comment on where art was going to go.  

Fascinating exhibition at Tate Britain of work by Olafur Eliasson which seeks to represent the colour in a Turner picture in fine detail and represent it as a spectrum. Each work was a circular canvas which a hole in the middle with the colours from one picture represented round it grading from dark to light and back again. I wish the Turner or a reproduction of it had been shown with each work but I did cheat by looking them up on my phone. They did give a good idea of the colour palette used in a picture and the subtlety of tone used. However they also produced beautifully works in their own right which gave a sense of calm. Even if you have never seen a Turner these are subtle and lovely works. Review Telegraph    

Small exhibition at Tate Britain of new work by Andrea Büttner. OK I have to admit I didn’t get this! There were some interesting works such as the video installation of the nuns who run a theme park talking about art and black prints using thick ink and a keyhole silhouette. However I wasn’t quite sure what they were trying to say and how they worked as a group. I think a little more commentary would have helped me. I think I was just meant to look and interpret but as I didn’t really see where it was going I think I needed some help. Even if the labels had been by the works not in clumps at the end of each section it might have helped.

Intriguing exhibition at Tate Britain of work by Auerbach donated to the Tate by the Lucien Freud Estate in lieu of tax. It is fascinating to see the works from the Freud estate slowly starting to appear in galleries and to see his wide collecting taste. He built the most significant private collection of Auerbach’s work. This exhibition was just a taster for a full scale show next year which is really exciting. I love the almost sculptural nature of Auerbach’s work. Often close up in is just texture and colour but as you move away from it the picture emerges. I loved the portrait which was almost skull like close up. The use of colour is fantastic, what at first appears a slightly muddy work, in a mass of different distinct colours up close. One picture has a Turner like splash of red which drew the eye and brought the composition to life. I also loved the lovely very personal works made for Freud such as birthday cards particularly the one showing Ruben’s “Samson and...

Nice small exhibition at Tate Britain looking at the move from the idea of art having a moral or theological meaning towards that of presenting ideal beauty in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The focus of the display was the idea of the nymph as an example of physical perfection but with an erotic theme as well. The first English translation of a book on nymphomania was published in 1775 and led to the new idea of the erotic imagination. Many of the works on show were of an aesthetic which is now out of fashion so although famous in their time they are in poor condition now. There were artists represented here who I had not come across before and who have fallen out of fashion such as Stothard with works such as “The Vintage” of a wine harvest. It was great to see an Etty and to see that even Gainsborough and Reynolds joined in this trend. I would have liked to see a little bit of reference back to the art historic past as I would see Titian and Cranach’s infl...

Beautifully presented exhibition at the National Maritime Museum looking at the competition to find a solution to measuring longitude at sea. This exhibition struck the right balance between an exhibition as an experience in itself and one presenting facts. I loved the section that looked at the discussion around the competition in a recreation of a London coffee house where the discussion would have taken place. Also a great idea to recreate the debate around which ideas to test around a board room style table with a digital top which sometimes showed maps but also showed the original documents you might have had in front of you at the meeting. On the fact front it couldn’t be faulted either. It was a good idea to put the time approach and the stars approach to the solution up different sides of each room to give them equal weight. It is always interesting to see all of Harrison’s time pieces together. I am always amazed at the huge initial ideas then the jump down to wha...

Interesting exhibition at the London Transport Museum looking at the role of the London transport system both on the home and fighting fronts. The top floor of the exhibition (you go in at the top) was dedicated to the home front with a wonderful selection of recruitment and propaganda posters such as the Christmas poster of Toyland mobilising. There was a really good section on the work women did with a bus conductresses uniform and a section on how Maida Vale tube, which opened in 1915, was staffed entirely by women. Downstairs was dedicated to the men and machines which went to the front. I was stunned to see that 1185 buses were sent to the front line of which only 250 returned. Many of them were reconfigured for other roles such as lorries or the six which were turned into pigeon houses! There was a good section on the men who served with interesting anecdotes and photos. I am currently doing some research for work on our rolls of honour so I was particularly int...