Cathy's Art Diary

Tender exhibition at the Photographers’ Gallery of work by Chris Killip who died two years ago. I’d not come across Killip’s work but I loved these bleak but dignified pictures of life in the north of England in the 1980s. He emerged himself in communities at one point living in a caravan on a beach where people were foraging for coal spill. My favourites were the early ones from his home in the Isle of Man at a time when the community was split between the agricultural workers and financiers coming in. There was a stunning picture of an auction which was full of faces. I also loved this one from Durham in the miners’ strike. I love the man juxtaposed with the crowd of police yet their faces are the same. A section on a fishing community at Skinningrove in North Yorkshire reminded me of the current Winslow Homer show at the National Gallery and his work in the village of Cullercoats. Closes 17 February 2023 Reviews Guardian Telegraph    

Small exhibition at Tate Britain of photographs by Chris Killip of life in 1980s Britain. He work looked at the political and social issues of working class communities, living and working within them. They had quite a nostalgic feel about them which felt strange as I remember the times well and they are not nostalgic in my head! I liked a picture of a group from a care home sitting in a shelter on a seaside day out.   There was a also a great Warhol like display of baked beans in a supermarket. Best though was a picture of a youth on a wall from 1976. He was curled up in disappear and it was an image which could have come from any age.