Cathy's Art Diary

Serene exhibition at White Cube, Mason’s Yard, of new work by Darren Almond. Most of the pieces were of willow leaves and branches, painted sparsely on metallic backgrounds. In the upstairs room these hung all around the room at eye level in vertical pairs giving an installation like feel to the display. Downstairs there were four bigger works each in six panels again with willow on metal leaf backgrounds. My interest in the likes of Giotto and Duccio made me view then as secular altarpieces by the size and the gold. They also had a strong feeling of Japanese prints. They were hung with large panels showing numbers in an almost collages arrangement. These were not well explained in the commentary but worked well to break up the space and give contrast. Closed 4 May 2024  

Fun exhibition at White Cube Bermondsey of new work by Darren Almond. These pictures were broken numbers in grids which reminded me of those puzzles you get in Christmas crackers that are muddled up sliding blocks in a frame that you have to rearrange to make a picture. I can never do them! The idea is that numbers are the only true common language and the font used is one used in the urban landscape at stations etc. In each one there is an unbroken zero. I liked the fact they all looked similar but were made in different materials. The show was accompanied by a sound track of a recording of the three working 18th century timepieces by Harrison in the National Maritime Museum which made you look at the works as if they are digital time pieces as well as making you walk in time with the ticking! Closes on 20 January 2019

Delightful exhibition at White Cube Bermondsey of photographs and sculpture by Darren Almond. The photographs were on a huge scale and were taken around the world over 13 years all using the light of a full moon and a long exposure. They gave a wonderful modern twist on the romantic idea of the sublime in landscape. They gave you the feeling of being in the landscape. I loved one of a dark navy rocky landscape and another which was almost a study in mist. In contrast they were shown with small bronze cylinders about a foot high and shown at floor level. These carried on the moon them and were engraved with astronauts’ initials.   The handout said these were like standing stones and represent a connection between man and moon. I liked them but I am not sure I would have understood what they were without the explanation. Reviews Independent Evening Standard