Cathy's Art Diary

Calming installation in the chapel at Compton Verney by Yulia Mahr. I loved the effect of this show in the beautiful Capability Brown chapel but have no idea what it meant. The commentary said it “explores ideas that are beyond our grasp and becomes a meditation on anxiety as a defining characteristic of our time” so maybe I was not far off by not understanding it. The main piece was a black sphere surmounted by a crow and this was shown with two negative photographs of a figure crouching in an emotional stance. I did like the fact it reflected the numerous crows which visit the estate. Closed 2 November 2025

Fascinating small exhibition at Compton Verney focusing on an unusual 17th century painting of two women. The pictures shows a white woman and a woman of colour both wearing beauty patches in a colour contrasting with their skin. The work was shown with research material exploring the themes of the work. It discussed how it dates from the Commonwealth period and may be making a moral point about vanity. It also speculated that the artist may be Jerome Hesketh, who trained as a Catholic priest, as it was possibly painted for the Catholic Kenyon family. He toured Catholic houses performing secret masses and painting portraits as his cover. No end date given

Thoughtful exhibition at Compton Verney of new works by Renee So. The show investigated how the meaning of objects can be manipulated and distorted as they travel from buyer to seller. She took inspiration from the galleries collection of Chinese bronzes. My favourite section reproduced large versions of classic scent bottles exploring their exotic names and roots in the opium trade. Another took the image of the silkworm onto different objects in a variety of media to explore   the intertwined histories of Chinese women, symbols of power and luxury goods. I liked the recreation of So’s studio at the end of the show. Closes 8 March 2026

Interesting exhibition at Compton Verney by Gayle Chong Kwan. Kwan had been artist in residence at the gallery and created these seven photographic works in response to their Chinese collection of bronze food and wine vessels. The photographs placed the artist outside buildings linked to empire and immigration wearing a collaged mask of images of objects related to the building. These were shown alongside small, bronze objects made by them. I’m not sure I understood all the links and nuisances but the images were striking. Closes March 2026. 

Baffling exhibition at Compton Verney of art looking at how women and non-binary artists have approached the idea of spirit. I don’t know if I did this show backwards by accident but I didn’t find any commentary setting out its premise. I’ve only worked it out since from the webpage. I also didn’t realise the works came from just two collections The Women’s Art Collection and The Ingram Collection and would love to have known more about them. Just viewing the works I wasn’t hit by the theme and was struggling to find connections. That said I loved the way it hung contemporary and older work together and I found some a lot of work I didn’t know. Closes 1 September 2024

Beautiful exhibition at Compton Verney looking at how art has reflected the history of gardens. The show was nicely arranged with a good balance between history and art. The first section looked at the chronological story from formal gardens, through the grand landscape gardens of places like the venue to 20th century ideas of smaller flower gardens. There was a lovely mix of art including a stunning Turner and a couple of nice Stanley Spencers. The second section looked at how art has created landscape with a section on artists gardens, sculpture in landscape and finishing on land art. I loved a Tissot of ladies in his garden and some water colours of Sandy’s garden. This was the first time I’d been to Compton Verney so a big shout out for it. It had a great balance of a country house and modern art space. The reception at the visitors’ centre as we bought tickets was delightful. It’s rare to see a ticket seller showing such enthusiasm. Sadly I went on a very wet day so we didn...