Cathy's Art Diary

Interesting exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery marking this year’s photographic portrait award. I’m going to start with my usual moan about reflective glass on photographs particularly dark ones. In some cases it was very difficult to view the image without seeing yourself and the pictures behind you. Often you get undefined themes in these shows and this time I felt it was age and trans people. As ever it was worth reading the labels as often the story wasn’t how it first appeared. I loved the first picture I saw in the show by Clare Brand of an old lady’s eye with the blue eye makeup smudging. Also Drew Gardener’s recreations of American Civil War photographs with the black descendants of the original sitters and Adam Ferguson's pictures of a pastor in the Outback of Australia. My favourite was this Julia Margaret Cameron like one by Phil Sharp showing the tears on the sitter’s eyes due to the music they were listening to. This year’s In Focus display was by D...

Niche but  fascinating exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery exploring how different technologies of reproduction have shaped encounters with artworks since the 19th century. The main focus was on an ivory mirror case from the Victoria and Albert Museum collection of the “Castle of Love”. The show discussed the different types of casts which has been made of it to spread its image and allow study along with print versions of it. The original was there and I was surprised at how poor the modern 3D printed version was. The show also looked at the use of new technology in the 19th century from glass slides to brass rubbings used by art historians. Closes 14 February 2025

Strange but fun exhibition at Somerset House on the theme of robotics by Louis Morlae one of the members of Somerset House Studios. The show explores the impact of robotics via a series of small sculptures. I enjoyed playing with one with which you interacted via a keyboard with oddly configured letters. I liked the way a video was shown in the base of a bench which was then reflected in a mirror behind although I didn’t have time to engage with the film. I want sure about these two pieces but they were fun! Closes 23 February 2025

Intriguing exhibition at Somerset House looking at the Rukus! Archive, Europe's largest archive of Black LGBTQIA+ culture and history. The collection has been accumulated as a project founded by photographer Ajamu X and filmmaker Topher Campbell, who describe themselves as “two unruly Queers defying conventions of race and sexuality by taking up space without asking permission”. The dry yet often explicit work was cleverly displayed in themed groups echoing aspects of Black, gay love over the last 50 years. As the collection started with the founders’ own material it feels a bit focused on them but as more people contribute it will broaden out. It was a good example of how to order and display archive material which can be heavily text based. Closed 19 January 2025 Reviews Guardian Evening Standard  

Thoughtful exhibition at Colnaghi London of work from over 1000 years which explore the close link between beauty and its inevitable decay. The show explores the classical themes of vanitas and memento mori using objects from Ancient Egypt to contemporary work. It also takes work from both the Western and Eastern traditions which you don’t usually see. There were some stunning works such as this painting of skulls and a fine a trompe-l’oeil   painting. The second gallery was dominated by two huge architectural capricci which gave an immersive effect. I had an interesting chat to the curator what explained more of the themes. Sadly the show had closed by the time I wrote this up and all detailed information which I was reading on my phone as I walked round the show seems to have disappeared from the website so apologies for the lack of detail. Closed 8 November 2024

Interesting exhibition at White Cube Masons’ Yard of new work by Danh Vo. Vo combines broken, ancient sculpture and modern objects in installations setting up interesting dialogues. I don’t think I understood all the connections but I was at the end of a long day of gallery visits so was feeling a bit jaded! The space was broken up in new ways with chipboard structures with sculptures hidden inside. I do like the way he uses historic artefacts in a sympathetic way. Closed 16 November 2024

Interesting exhibition at the Redfern Gallery looking at the career of Pop Art pioneer Peter Sedgley. The show included work from 50 years in paintings on paper, canvas, panel, light and kinetic form of work which played with the eyes and seemed to move. I must admit I am not fond of this type of work but do find it clever and innovative. Closed 30 November 2024  

Creepy exhibition at Flowers of new work by Scottish artist Ken Currie. These were majestic works which imagined an archipelago of barren islands and the people who live on them without shelter. The upper floor was dominated a painting of a group of depressed looking people with shades of American Gothic and a similarly large image of a white, emaciated horse on a boat. I’m not sure what they are about but they got under my skin and were the stuff of nightmares! Closed 16 November 2024    

Innovative exhibition at Tiwani Contemporary of new work by Emma Prempeh. The show consisted of beautiful paintings looking at home, belonging and memory with gold detailing in the skies to give majesty. Some of the works were hung in installations representing interiors in the Caribbean and Uganda with projections adding to the images. For example one painting of a sitting room had a figure projected into one corner. It was joyous and creepy at the same time! Closed 16 November 2024  

Interesting exhibition at Messum's London looking at contemporary landscape painting. I am currently doing a National Gallery course on landscape painting so this mirrored some of the themes and ideas.   Shout outs to a clever diptych of a swimming pool by Claudia Pons Bonham displayed around the corner of the room, two beautiful square small pictures of Berkshire by Harry Martin and a dramatic picture of fire by Jelly Green. Closed 16 November 2024  

Stunning exhibition at the Stephen Friedman Gallery of new work by Kehinde Wiley. I love Wiley's portraits so it was exciting to see this new project. In a change of mood the majority of works in the show were miniature but all done in the hyperreal detailed style of his monumental work, setting black sitters within an intricate millefleur background. They had a jewel-like quality and a feel of Tudor miniatures emphasised by the 18th century style black frames. I was fascinated to read on the press release that Wiley had met most of the sitters on the same day at the University of Lagos. It gave them an added sense of being a picture of a generation of young people. These were shown with two multi-canvas portraits breaking up the image of the sitters over around ten images. Closed 9 November 2024  

Small exhibition   at Holtermann Fine Art of new sculpture by Peter Buggenhout. I was just wondering what on earth these striking works were about when I read the press release and saw that they "resist interpretation" and are "devoid of symbols" so I felt a bit better. They basically looked like a mess of found objects and yet oddly they pulled you in to try to work out what they might be about. Closed 14 December 2024  

Clever exhibition at Ordovas of exploring the colour gold. In just a few works the show looked at how gold had been used by 20th century and contemporary artists as well as showing an enamelled reliquary box from about 1200. The press release talked about how gold had been used as a symbol of prestige, prosperity and sacred power. Highlights included gold bullets by Chris Burden and two early shoe pictures by Andy Warhol with the shoes in gold leaf. It was important to remember the show was about the colour gold rather than the metal so there were works such a Carl Andre's "Copper Corner" and Lucio Fontana's "Concetto Spaziale" an oil painting resembling gold. Closed 13 December 2024    

Impressive exhibition at Hauser and Wirth of new work by George Rouy. These were grand works where grouped figures disintegrated into a mass of emotion. On one hand they have a feel of Francis Bacon, on the other the scale and grouping of the figures reminded me of Caravaggio. I particularly liked the ones in fleshy, pastel tones and the way the work dominated the space.   Closed 21 December 2024  

Interesting exhibition at Hauser and Wirth of work from the 1970s by Jack Witten. The commentary said the work marked a change in Witten’s career with a move from abstract expressionism to experimental processes and material. It introduced me to the idea of Process Art, art made by the repetition of gesture or technique. The paintings played with your eyes in a Bridget Riley way which was a bit disconcerting for someone who got new varifocals only a week ago! I liked the fact they were shown with some of his sculpture from the same time made with found objects. Closed 14 December 2024

Strange exhibition at Unit of new work by Kevin Klamminger. I must admit the aesthetic of these pieces aren’t to my taste but I loved the quality of the painting in them blending the hyperreal and surreal. Evidently, they are about the “balance between conscious and unconscious minds” but I’m not sure I’d have got that. I did feel they would work well as illustrations for Greek myths. My favourites were the small, less surreal pieces with painted faux frames. Closed 8 December 2024    

Fascinating exhibition at Unit of new work by Bobbi Essers. These beautifully painted works explore the idea of platonic friendship by combining images from photographs of sections of her friends. It talks of the interweaving of groups of people. I loved the way the images blended together sometimes by combining canvases but in others creating the same effect with paint. Closed 8 December 2024

Fun exhibition at Pace of new sculptural installations by Genesis Belanger. Belanger uses porcelain and stoneware, metal, wood, and painting to create tableaux that draw from, and comment on, capitalist production and consumption. Grouping pastel-coloured objects they recreate everyday scenes in a doll like aesthetic which reminded me of the paintings of Wayne Thiebaud. Closed 9 November 2024

Monumental exhibition at Pace of new work by Robert Longo. The show was a mixture of work including a small and large graphite drawing, the large being of a huge flower in murky detail. There was also a film downstairs flashing up images from one day of news, 4 July 2024. I loved the idea but can’t cope with rapidly flashing images in a small space. My favourite piece was a five-panel work, each in a different medium. Longo calls these pieces “Combines”, and this consisted of a film still, a wall sculpture, a painting, a film and a detailed drawing. I found it very effective like a modern altarpiece. Closed 9 November 2024  

Comprehensive and enjoyable online lecture from ARTscapades introducing the exhibition at the Courtauld on Monet’s views of the River Thames. The curator of the show, Karen Serres, lead us clearly through the three series of paintings, gave us the background to how Monet painted them and their afterlife from exhibition to sale.   I was fascinated to hear more about what London looked like at the time and how the subjects, Waterloo and Charing Cross bridges and the Houses of Parliament were all relatively new. I also loved the background information on Monet’s life in London including the fact that he is recorded on the 1901 census record for the Savoy, I had already been to the show and enjoyed it but this talk added a lot more information and I have revisited since to consolidate what I learnt and to cement the show in my mind.

Fun online discussion from the National Gallery about the Sharp family who are depicted in a painting by Zoffany from 1779-81. I hadn’t attended one of these book club format events before but it was good fun and lead to a lively discussion between Hestor Grant, author of a book of the same title as the talk, and Matthew Morgan, art historian. Grant outlined the lives of the family and why they appear on a barge on the Thames playing instruments. The answer to the latter being because that’s what they actually did that.   I loved the painting but hadn’t realised before that one of the brothers is Granville Sharp who I had learnt about in school as one of the early slavery abolitionists in Britain.   What a fascinating character but matched by his siblings who were all philanthropists in different ways. The book has been added to be ‘to be read’ list!  

Lovely annual exhibition at Glyndebourne featuring Sussex artists. There was an interesting range of work this year with the inclusion of sculpture, stained glass and textiles as well as paintings and prints. I loved this Downland cottage by William Davies but my favourite was a tiny painting on copper called “Returning Light” by Dawn Aldridge. Reading the blurb again I’ve learnt that Aldridge works in the gardens at Glyndebourne! Closed 15 December 2022  

Interesting exhibition at Charleston in Lewes of works by Grayson Perry relating to the idea of home. The show included tapestries, pots, prints and videos. My favourite were the two tapestries made for Julie's House, a real home designed by Perry in 2015 and telling the story of the fictional Julie Cope. I also loved the intricate prints of maps of imagined places such as “Our Town” from 2022 of a small cosy town and a mapped guide to a society that spends much of its time online. Closes 2 March 2025  

Wonderful exhibition at Charleston in Lewes of Modernist paintings from the Radev Collection. The collection was started by the music critic Eddy Sackville-West before being passed to the artist and art dealer Eardley Knollys and finally to Mattei Radev after whom it is now named. Each collector added to it reflecting their personal tastes. It is now owned by Radev’s civil partner Norman Coates. The show was arranged roughly chronologically and contained some stunning works including a number by Duncan Grant and Vanessa Bell with whom Sackville-West was friends. I discovered lots of artists who were new to me too and have lots of names to Google. The show also looked at Radev’s journey as an immigrant from persecution in Bulgaria to becoming a picture framer and finding a new family in queer artistic circles. Closes 2 March 2025 Review Guardian  

Lovely display at the Sam Wannamaker Theatre at the Globe of work by Rutgers BFA theatre designers from New Jersey, USA, who are currently in residence there. This is the third version of this show by costume and set design students in residence at the theatre where some design and create a cocktail hat that embodies a Shakespearean character which would work under candlelight. My favourite this time was for Julius Caesar by Isabella Deflice. My favourites though were by scenic and lighting design students who created small open boxes of a scenery design which, when you pressed a switch, produced a shadow on the back which was stunningly created from the scene in front. My favourite of these was for Twelfth Night by Benjamin Levie shown here complete with my finger. No end date given  

Fun exhibition in Covent Garden showcasing costumes from the Tina Turner Musical. Each of the six costumes reference a hit and was shown with a photograph of the costume in the show and the original outfit being worn by Tina Turner. I was amazed at how small the dresses were and assumed they might be reduced in size for the show but there is no indication of that in the commentary online so I maybe the actress playing the lead is tiny. The display marks six years of the show in the West End and was put on by the musical in partnership with Women’s Aid, who Tina Turner was a long-standing supporter of, to raise awareness and bring an end to domestic abuse. Closed 10 November 2024  

Excellent lecture at the National Portrait Gallery putting Bacon into the context of queer life in post-war Britain. Gregory Salter from the University of Birmingham led us clearly through a complex subject starting with how Bacon was exploring masculinity particularly with his depiction of men in suits. He discussed how suits were used to display conventionality but could also be a mask. He went on to discuss why Bacon placed his sitters in abstracted domestic settings partially on the context that the decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1967 particularly allowed it in private putting it into domestic rather than public space. Finally he looked at queer networks and their role particularly around Soho. He looked at how Bacon used the photographs of John Deacon as part of his process although crumpling them up and his use of triptychs to   explore aspects of a person rather than an accurate physical depiction. I came away with lots of new thoughts on the show and a need ...

Excellent online lecture from the Paul Mellon Centre discussing a portrait of the Maharani Jind Kaur which was shown at the Royal Academy annual show in 1865. Adam Eker, from the Metropolitan Museum, which has recent acquired this work by George Richmond, took us though how the picture was commissioned by the sitter’s son, Duleep Singh, possibly to mark the return of her jewelry from the British government. He put the work in the context of other work representing the Indian subcontinent in Royal Academy shows and in particular works which engaged with the idea of women in purdah. He talked about how the women were often exoticized. He then talked about how it was shown at the Royal Academy show. The Maharani was a well-known, although controversial, figure in London so the work drew the critics and Eker outlined some of the press reporting of the work. This was a clearly explained overview of ongoing research to inform an exhibition at the Met in collaboration with Tate Brita...

Thoughtful exhibition at the British Museum by contemporary artist Hew Locke examining the museums relationship with Imperial power. It is a complex subject and is presented as a dialogue, with exhibits arranged as if in a storeroom. I feared it would feel preachy but it was more nuanced. From the welcome via video by the artist with a sparkle in his eye I was captivated. There was a mix of original artefacts combined with new pieces commenting on them by Locke all overseen by some of his signature figures looking down from on top of the cabinets. My only negative comment would be that they were hard to see and often they are fabulously detailed. I learnt some stories I didn’t know, had some turned on their heads and other things confirmed. I came away with a lot to think about as well as having seen some amazing things. Closes 9 February 2025 Reviews Times Guardian Telegraph Evening Standard  

Brilliant exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery examining Francis Bacon and portraiture. It took a broad look at the subject not only including portraits of friends and lovers but also his interpretations of Old Masters, so there were quite a few screaming popes. The section at the end on friends and lovers included short biographies and I’m off the investigate a few of the colourful characters. The show included several of the source photographs and magazine cuttings direct from his studio, crumpled and splattered in paint. I loved the use of quotes from Bacon which gave an insight into his ideas and aims. I particularly like his theory that a portrait should “Give over all the pulsations of a person” but it did get a bit overused in the show. I’m not sure I will ever love Bacon but I came away with a much better understanding of him. I think my favourite works were the triptychs of a sitter. Closed 19 January 2025 Reviews Times Guardian Telegraph Evening St...