Cathy's Art Diary

Baffling exhibition at Tate Britain of work by Simeon Barclay looking at how we define ourselves in society. I’m glad there was a commentary as I’m not sure I understood any of the themes from looking at the work plus to be honest I’m not sure I understood the rather pompous commentary either. The works felt a bit random in nature. I began by quite liking the soundtrack in the gallery but then it became annoying too. Sorry I tried! Closed on 5 November 2017. Review Evening Standard  

Fascinating exhibition at Tate Britain looking at the ground breaking Kasmin Gallery, the first architect designed private gallery showing painting and sculpture together in a white space. At the core of the show was a British Library oral history project with the people who ran the gallery and the artists who showed there which gave an insight into the relationships that shaped this period. Most of the works shown around the walls had been shown at the Kasmin Gallery and a lot of the ephemera in the cases showed the same works in catalogue and on invitations. The show also talked about how Tate itself had bought from the Kasmin Gallery and it was interesting to see the Tate’s purchasing policy and procedure in action. Closes on 4 February 2017

Interesting exhibition at Tate Britain focusing on eight photographers of black communities in the 1960s and 70s. These pictures were often a reaction to the racial and social tensions of the time and included people like Syd Shelton who was the unofficial photographers for Rock Against Racism. There was also work by Colin Jones who recorded the lives of people living in a housing project in Islington for vulnerable young people. I had come across Raphael Albert’s fun pictures of black beauty competitions before and also liked work by Dennis Morris known for his pictures of Bob Marley and the Sex Pistols. Closed on 19 November 2017

Interesting display at Tate Britain focusing on a newly purchased picture by William Stott of Oldham and using it to look at his work and that of other Victorian symbolic pastoral painters. Stott was always known as William Stott of Oldham as there was another William Stottt working out of Rochdale at the same period painting similar subjects. Both were also moving away from the detailed brush work to looser strokes. Le Passeur (The Ferryman) took centre stage in the show and was a large picture of two girls at dusk waiting for a ferry to cross a river. It had shades of the river Styx and the stages of life. I liked the flat line of houses on the horizon. The work sat well with one by Henry Herbert La Thangue “Return of the Reapers” showing farm workers leaving the field and setting a young girl in front of an old man with a scythe. Age, death, get it! I like my symbolism quite obvious! Closes winter 2017.  

Lovely exhibition at Tate Britain looking at the career of the sculptor Rachel Whiteread. I find Whiteread’s work very touching often looking at the forgotten empty space around familiar objects. I was entranced from the opening exhibit in the large Duveen Gallery, “Untitled (100 spaces)”, casts of the space under chair cast in coloured resins which looked like huge jelly sweets. The exhibition space had been opened up into one large space so that you could see the larger objects from across the room however it also managed to flow and give a narrative to the work. It was brave to display largely white objects in a white room but it worked well. My favourite piece was the large cast of library shelves which had been made in preparation for her Holocaust memorial in Vienna. It was a touching work where the shelves were the spaces and the shadow of the books were left. I loved a section where the books had had cut out markers on the pages which were reflected in the cas

Interesting fair in Building 10 at Woolwich Arsenal selling prints by a   selection of contemporary print makers. I loved the mix of this fair with some expensive pieces from well-known names like Paula Rego and Chris Ofili but also more affordable work from up and coming artists. It was also nice that a number of the artists were there demonstrating their techniques and encouraging you to have a go. I did purchase the attached picture by Ann Burnham of the Shard against the background of an A-Z map which caught my eye. I also liked work by Kethi Copeland’s panorama of London architecture and Jenny Weiner’s deconstructions of well-known paintings. Closed on 23 October 2017