Cathy's Art Diary

Strange installation at the Now Gallery by Irish fashion designer Robyn Lynch. This is the gallery’s annual fashion commission where it gives a designer a platform to give insight into their practice. The work featured two spaces created by an inflatable structure. One highlighted the creative process with photographs of things which had inspired Lynch and some mocked up garments ready to send to the manufacturer. The second stage had a video on the labels practice but, at 29 minutes long, I’m afraid I didn’t have time to commit. I’m afraid I found the piece a bit incomprehensible and would have liked a bit more written explanation. I did quite like the av presentation which took your image and applied items from the label’s collections and zany heads. Closed 25 February 2024  

Colourful and interactive exhibition at the Now Gallery of an installation by fashion designer Matty Bovan. This gallery has an annual exhibition commissioned from a fashion designer and this year’s is a series of large hangings made of brightly coloured knotted and plaited ribbons by Matty Bovan. You could go inside the largest piece and tie extra ribbons onto it and to the other works. I usually don’t choose to interact with art when I am on my own as I feel self-conscious but you couldn’t help but pick lovely, silky, bright ribbons and start working with them. One small plait on the piece by the back window is mine! Closes 5 March 2023  

Gentle installation at the Now Gallery by Korean artist Jee Young Lee. The work was a sea of bright yellow Gingko leaves with large white origami swans and boats and ‘paper’ planes above. The idea is that it’s about childhood memories. You don’t have to understand the artist’s but we are invited to think about our own. You could write your memory on a piece of paper and make an origami boat from it. I’ve seen a lot at this gallery and this installation uses the space well. I liked that it is visible from outside to entice people in. Closes 25 September 2022  

Fun installation at the Now Gallery by multidisciplinary artist, Lydia Chan. The show creates a brightly coloured science fiction world. You can download augmented reality filters on your phone which add creatures and new layers to the scene in front of you. Many thanks to the assistant who was there when I went who showed me how this worked on her iPad as I couldn’t get it to work on my phone. This would be great fun to take children to as they could not only play in the space but also with the technology. On your own on a damp December day it was still an attractive space but not so much fun. Closes 6 March 2022  

Colourful and thoughtful installation at the Now Gallery by illustrator Manjit Thapp, the galleries Young Artist Commission for 2021. A maze like structure contained an assortment of pictures, tapestries, carpets and mixed media pieces on the theme of holding back the jungle in your head which was well and simply expressed. I like the way you wander between small room finding new images and objects as you went. Closes 31 October 2021  

Charming outdoor exhibition from the Now Gallery of photographs by Mah Rana exploring what jewellery means to us. This consisted of large-scale pictures around the gallery’s window space each showing a Greenwich Peninsular resident with a quote from them explaining the jewellery they are wearing and what it means to them. These were lovely clear images and some of the descriptions were very moving. This is an ongoing project with a website www.meaningandattachments.com .

Colourful installation at the Now Gallery by Emmanuelle Moureaux. This consists of layers of repeated dates in a fine plastic, with a line for each year, from 2000 to 2120 arranged in large 3D oval. 2000-2019 are in white separated by a passage from the next 100 years in 100 shades of rainbow colours. The description said it looked at the flow of time on the Meridian line. I loved the way this filled the space, probably one of the best shows I’ve seen at this gallery, and the vistas though the work setting up different geometric patterns and mixes of colours. Closes 19 April 2020 Review Evening Standard

Colourful installation at the Now Gallery by Nigerian artist Mowalola. I’ve seen a few things in this space and this installation fitted it well and looked very striking. It consisted of drapes of fabric by the artist with a rock band of mannequins in the middle covered in tar wearing punk outfits also by the artist and playing tar-coated instruments. It was a blaze of colour and texture. Reading the press release now it says it “aims to disrupt and question perceptions of normality whilst challenging traditional discourse surrounding African sexuality encouraging visitors to shed the pressures of convention and live life by their own terms.” I’m not sure I thought or felt any of that but I did like it. Closes 19 January 2020

Charming exhibition at Now Gallery of photographs by Nadia Huggins. The pictures were large scale and showed adolescent males swimming in the seas around St Vincent and Grenadines.   I loved the underwater pictures where the bodies and water intermingled. In the commentary Huggins says they record “snippets of vulnerability and moments of abstraction”.   The works looked lovely in this space. Closed 17 November 2019

Sweet installation at the Now Gallery a journey into the mind of Argentinian artist Kinska. The idea started when the artist spent time in hospital for a hip replacement where she processed the experience via her sketchbooks which are shown in the show. Following this she made about 1000 handmade ceramic pieces which are displayed in a wooden house to represent her studio under a rainy sky of ceramic teardrops or Gotas. The ceramics were really cute and there was so much to look at. What looked a bit confusing at first but did lead you to think about different aspects of a stay in hospital. It was a nice touch to have more sketchbooks on the outside of the hut so that you could add your own ideas. Closes 22 September 2019

Glittery installation at the Now Gallery by Sara Shakeel. Behind a black curtain in installation of a family meal which is dramatized by being covered in glass crystals giving these ordinary objects a sense of glamour and purpose. The handout says it aims to celebrate the gregariousness of the family table and to mark the sparkling conversations around food and family. Sadly I’m not too sure how many families still eat together in this idealistic way. Closed on 23 June 2019

Colourful but   strange exhibition  at the Now Gallery by fashion designer Richard Malone. The show looked both at Malone’s design process and the relationship between fashion, movement and art. At the core were three hanging fabric sculptures in bright colours. You are encouraged to put these on and experience what they are like to move in however, I must admit, a middle aged lady on her own felt a bit too self-conscious to do this, it would be fun with a group of people.   There were also big projections of people moving in the work but from the inside of the gallery these were just pale shadows. I only realised after I left that they showed up much better on the outside windows and would look very striking at night. There were also interesting displays on Malone’s design process but these felt a bit random and needed a bit more explanation. Closes on 3 February 2019