Cathy's Art Diary

Brilliant but slightly scary exhibition at the Serpentine Sackler Gallery of life like sculptures by Duane Hanson. I say scary because I am a woman who was once chased by a wax work! These figures are so realistic that you expect them to move and it feels strange looking at them like you are staring at a real person. I think it’s the detail and the quality of the skin tone which is so amazing. The figures were just displayed in the open gallery without ropes so they inhabit the same space as the viewer and at times it was hard to tell who the visitors were as you’ll see from the attached photo. My favourite was the cowboy who lounged against the wall as you walked in.   I also loved the older couple sitting at the back of the gallery happy in their own company. Review Times  

Small exhibition in the Sunley Room at the National Gallery which has already been on tour to Bristol's City Museum and Art Gallery and the Laing Art Gallery, in Newcastle upon Tyne. It takes the opportunity too look at a bit of social history, how work and leisure have changed over the last 4000 years, and show this through works of art from the National Gallery’s own collection and loans from other galleries. It was a good idea and done well but somehow left me wanting more! As it is such a small space it could almost have been worth doing two separate exhibitions to give more depth, however it was good to see the links between the themes. Works such as the acrylic sculpture “The Traveller” by Duane Hanson showed how leisure can actually be hard work. There was the inevitable Lowry given the theme was work and a Ford Maddox Brown picture “Work” showing the sentimental view of the working classes in Victorian England. The most extraordinary piece was a roll of material from 1992 ...