Cornelia Parker

Stunning exhibition at Tate Britain of work over 30 years by contemporary artist Cornelia Parker.

The best thing about this show was that the commentary and labels had been written by Parker and were personal but also clear and informative. I was fascinated by the depth of her ideas behind some of the simpler works.

I loved the large installations particularity “‘Perpetual Canon” of squashed brass instruments hung in a circle which cast clear shadows of their shapes around the walls. “Cold Dark Matter” a blown up shed was dramatic and you found people having conversations around it about what might be in their own sheds.

There was a good balance with small works many of which seemed to record things that had gone such a what looked like pieces of fluff which were in fact the carved-out grooves of vinyl records or a cast of the gaps in the paving at Bunhill Fields cemetery.

Sadly I didn’t have time to watch the video installations but I do find I have to been in the right frame of mind to engaged with them.

My favourite work was “War Room” which was a tented space made from the left-over sheets from the Royal British Legion factory from which poppies had been cut. It was modelled on Henry VIII’s tents at the Field of the Cloth of Gold. It was a large peaceful space but the repetitive pattern played with your eyes.

Closes 16 October 2022


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