Cathy's Art Diary

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...

Interesting exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery looking at people living and working by the River Tees. The show combined photographs of people by Gilmar Ribeiro and artworks by local community groups created with the Middlesborough Institute of Modern Art. The show is in a series of displays in the People Powered series. The photographs were joyful and I particularly liked this group photo of The Friends’ of True Lovers’ Walk. The community pieces included a sound scale and a wallpaper/mural by a local school but my favourite was these posters of sayings about rivers by a group of elders who meet at the Institute. Closed 10 November 2024  

Intriguing online lecture from London Art Week introducing new research on a 14th century monument near Dijon. I encountered this monumental well in another recent talk and was fascinated by it. In this discussion Alexandra Gajewski, deputy editor of The Burlington, interviewed Susie Nash, from the Courtauld, about an article she was about to have published in the magazine outlining her latest research. The well was in the grounds of a monastery near Dijon and has prophets around the base and Nash has concluded that it was topped by a Crucifix with Mary Magdalene at the feet of Christ. She has also linked the work, commissioned by Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, to the Battle of Nicopolis in 1396 in which the sons of many of the French noble families were killed and his son was taken hostage. I enjoyed hearing a clear, well-argued piece of research and would love to read the article which was promised to those who attended the talk but it hasn’t materialised.

Fascinating online lecture from ARTscapades introducing an exhibition recreating the First Impressionist exhibition. Anne Robbins, one of the curators of the exhibition at the Musee D’Orsay, set out the aims of the show and guided us through the display and its successful add-ons including a VR experience and the loan of other Impressionist paintings to other galleries in France. She began by looking at what was happening in Paris at the time from the building works by Haussman to the aftereffects of the Commune. She then moved on to what pictures were actually in the show and how they were hung. She spent some time discussing how the show was a reaction to the annual show at the Salon and yet how much the two shows had in common with 12 artists showing in both of them before looking at how it established a new school of art and is often seem as the starting point of the Avant Garde. It made me wish I had made the effort to go to Paris for this show. 

Interesting exhibition at the National Maritime Museum to mark 200 years of the Royal National  Lifeboat Institution. Given the show was billed as being part of the 200th anniversary I would have liked to have seen a bit more history in it. There was a good timeline and a few exhibits around fundraising but that was it. Instead the real focus of the show were the photographs by Jack Lowe who has set himself the challenge of photographing all 238 operational RNLI lifeboat stations across the British Isles using glass-plate photography. The photographs were shown in pairs with a picture of the view from the station and, in this case, a picture of the women who are based there. The photographs had a Victorian feel due to the technique used. Closed 2 December 2024

Fun art fair in Battersea Park selling works by a wide range of contemporary artists. There were around 100 galleries represented at the show set in a superior temporary venue. Looking down on the show from the café you got a sense of colour and excitement. One of the main themes which emerged was pictures of London but I guess they knew their market. I saw a lot of work being bought and a lot of happy people leaving with parcels. Of course I was tempted but resisted. I think my favourite with was this interior with flowers by Louise Millin but shout outs also go to   Jennifer Greenland’s view of Monmouth Street, Mick Dean’s paintings of The Thames in East London and Lilyn Ogwen’s amazing Welsh landscapes. Closed 20 October 2024

Interesting exhibition at the National Gallery focusing on “The Hay Wain” by Constable. I like these small shows focusing on a single painting and putting it into context. This time it sets the famous Constable against other paintings of rural life at the time as well as discussing the politics of the countryside. The show began with a selection of earlier and contemporary work including a beautiful Stubbs of reapers. It also included satirical cartoons of the time to represent the politics issues of the era. The main section looked at Constable himself with commentaries on his early work, how he created the actual picture and his later work. It included sketches made outdoors of the scene, the initial small compositional painting and the paint sketch to scale. It was fascinating to see the compositional choices he made at the different stages. It was a lovely touch to include some small carved figures believed to be by Constable and the gold medal awarded to the painting in 1...

Fun, vibrant exhibition at the Fashion and Textile Museum looking at the Taboo nightclub and the fashion of the people who went there. The club was opened by designer and performance artist, Leigh Bowery in 1985 with the dress code ‘dress as though your life depends on it, or don’t bother’. The show started by looking at the club and what those who went wore with sections on each of the designers and shops they favoured. I loved an installation which recreated a night in the club complete with DJ. It then looked at the designers who went to the club including Bowery himself and how their careers developed. There was a fun display upstairs on the pop stars of the early 80s who wore the fashions which brought back a lot of memories and another on the department store Browns which supported a lot if the designers. As with a lot of shows like this the best bit was my fellow punters, many of whom had been there, and literally got the t-shirt.   Closes 9 March 2024 Review Ti...

Repetitive exhibition at White Cube Bermondsey of new work by Tracey Emin. I try to like Emin’s work and do admire the free mark making but find them too introspective to be viewed on mass. Any individual one in show would make an interesting point but together I get a bit bored. I liked the inclusion of a big sculpture with the same title as the show which I thought I’d seen there before but checking I realise this is a new work. Closed 10 November 2024 Reviews Times Telegraph Evening Standard l

Bright exhibition   at Eames Fine Art of prints of London by Gail Brodholt organised into an A-Z. I love Brodholt’s clear, colourful prints and liked her short descriptions of the scenes. The prints were from a range of dates with different titles to the A-Z. I particularly like her scenes of tube stations and railway junctions as they are such iconic London scenes. Some of the prints see to have been made with an iridescent ink and I’d have liked to know more about that. It gives a lovely effect. Closed 3 November 2024

Enlightening online lecture from the National Gallery introducing their exhibition focusing on Constable’s “The Hay Wain”. Mary McMahon, the curator, led us through the four sections of the show and highlighted some of the works in it. This was most useful for the section on the opening section on the changing British landscape as she had included a number of works by artists who were new to me. As well as looking in detail at Constable’s working process when painting “The Hay Wain” she also looked at his career bother before and after the work and how it developed before ending by looking at how the painting entering the National Gallery collection in 1866 has secured his legacy. I went to see the show a few days after the talk, look out for my blog of it, and it proved very useful to have had such a good overview. There were nuances in the show I might have missed without it.

Fascinating online lecture from the British Museum explaining their current exhibition on the Silk Roads. I’d enjoyed the exhibition but it was useful to learn a bit more about how it was structured. I had spotted that the show was in geographical zones which roughly made it chronological but had missed that within this were six case studies looking at a topic in more detail. Sue Brunning and Yu Ping Luk, the curators, took us on a whistle stop tour of the show pointing out the star exhibits and explaining why they were chosen. They also explained how the show goes beyond the norms of the museum by drawing objects from all departments as well as borrowing items from 29 international lenders, many of whom had never lent to the British Museum before.

Moving installation at St Mary Le Strand by Es Devlin. The piece consisted of 50 large drawings of people who had fled conflicts and how live in London. Each figure held a box and the drawings were arranged on a terraced structure. Every 10-15 minutes a sound and light scape animated the space with videos running in the boxes. Figures were illuminated in turn and you heard the voice of the sitter telling their story. I had heard Devlin talk about this work at the Charleston Festival so I was delighted to find it by chance during its short run at the church. I do hope it gets more showings. I would certainly like to see it again. Closed 9 October 2024 Stop Press : A version is at Somerset House until 12 January which I’ll blog when I get to it.

Interesting exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery of works on blue paper from their collection. The show explained how artists used blue paper to give a mid-tone to drawings and watercolour sketches. It also looked at the different types of blue paper and how it was made. The best aspect was the beautiful works which were on show from a drawing from Tintoretto's workshop to a 20th century piece by Wyndham Lewis. I loved a small Turner landscape and wonderful church interior by Pieter Saenredam from 1634. I was most intrigued at the story with a female nude by Govert Flinck from 1648. It represents one of the earliest documented cases of women posing nude in Western art as a court case from the same year tells us that Flinck painted three sisters "stark naked".   Closes 26 January 2025